THE LIFE INSURANCE COURSE TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE - HISTORY & ELEMENTS OF LIFE INSURANCE ....................... 1 WHY LIFE INSURANCE .......................................................................................................................................3 LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS ...............................................................................................................................5 DETERMINING PREMIUM FOR LIFE INSURANCE .................................................................................6 PRICING ....................................................................................................................................................................7 YEARLY RENEWABLE TERM RATE CALCULATION ............................................................................8 RESERVE CALCULATION .............................................................................................................................. 11 FLEXIBLE PREMIUM PLANS ........................................................................................................................ 11 THE SAVINGS ELEMENT IN LIFE INSURANCE...................................................................................... 12 POLICIES THAT PARTICIPATE IN COMPANY EXPERIENCE – OR NOT ..................................... 13 NON-PARTICIPATING POLICIES ................................................................................................................. 13 PARTICIPATING POLICIES ........................................................................................................................... 14 DIVIDEND PAYMENT OPTIONS ............................................................................................................. 14 Cash Dividend ............................................................................................................. 14 Premium Reduction ...................................................................................................... 14 CURRENT ASSUMPTION POLICIES ............................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER TWO - THE INSURANCE CONTRACT ................................................. 19 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE INSURANCE CONTRACTS .................................................................... 20 ELEMENTS OF A CONTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 21 EFFECTIVE DATE ............................................................................................................................................. 22 CONSIDERATION ............................................................................................................................................. 23 CONTRACT FOR LEGAL PURPOSES .......................................................................................................... 23 INSURABLE INTEREST ................................................................................................................................... 23 THE APPLICATION ............................................................................................................................................. 24 CONCEALMENT, MISREPRESENTATION, FRAUD ................................................................................ 24 PRESUMPTION OF DEATH ............................................................................................................................ 25 INCONTESTABLE CLAUSE ........................................................................................................................... 26 SUICIDE CLAUSE ............................................................................................................................................. 26 GRACE PERIOD ................................................................................................................................................. 27 DELAY PROVISION .......................................................................................................................................... 27 EXCLUSIONS...................................................................................................................................................... 28 AVIATION ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 WAR EXCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 28 BENEFICIARY PROVISION ............................................................................................................................ 28 BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS ................................................................................................................... 29 PRIMARY BENEFICIARY ...................................................................................................................... 29 i CONTINGENT BENEFICIARY.............................................................................................................. 29 REVOCABLE BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION ................................................................................. 29 IRREVOCABLE BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION ............................................................................. 29 NAMING THE BENEFICIARY .............................................................................................................. 30 PER CAPITA .............................................................................................................................................. 30 PER STIRPES ............................................................................................................................................. 30 MINORS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES ...................................................................................................... 31 Uniform Simultaneous Death Act .................................................................................. 31 Common Disaster Provision .......................................................................................... 32 NON-FORFEITURE PROVISION .................................................................................................................. 32 NON-FORFEITURE OPTIONS .................................................................................................................. 33 CASH SURRENDER ................................................................................................................................. 33 PAID-UP INSURANCE ............................................................................................................................ 33 EXTENDED TERM INSURANCE ......................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 34 CHAPTER THREE – THE INSURANCE CONTRACT II ........................................ 38 SETTLEMENT OPTIONS ................................................................................................................................. 38 LUMP SUM ..................................................................................................................................................... 38 INTEREST ONLY .......................................................................................................................................... 38 FIXED AMOUNT ........................................................................................................................................... 39 FIXED PERIOD .............................................................................................................................................. 39 LIFE INCOME ................................................................................................................................................ 40 CASH/INSTALLMENT REFUND ANNUITY .......................................................................................... 40 LIFE INCOME OPTION WITH PERIOD CERTAIN .............................................................................. 40 JOINT AND SURVIVORSHIP OPTION .................................................................................................... 41 OTHER OPTIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Educational Option....................................................................................................... 41 Flexible Spending Account ........................................................................................... 41 Individualized Options ................................................................................................. 41 ASSIGNMENTS .................................................................................................................................................. 41 ABSOLUTE ASSIGNMENT .................................................................................................................... 42 VIATICAL SETTLEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 42 COLLATERAL ASSIGNMENT ................................................................................................................... 43 POLICY LOANS ................................................................................................................................................. 43 COLLATERAL ............................................................................................................................................... 43 INTEREST ....................................................................................................................................................... 44 DIRECT RECOGNITION ............................................................................................................................. 44 INTEREST PAID ON BORROWED VALUES ......................................................................................... 45 LOAN REPAYMENT .................................................................................................................................... 45 REINSTATEMENT CLAUSE ........................................................................................................................... 45 MISSTATEMENT OF AGE ............................................................................................................................... 46 RENEWAL PROVISIONS ................................................................................................................................. 47 OPTIONAL RIDERS/BENEFITS ...................................................................................................................... 47 WAIVER OF PREMIUM ................................................................................................................................... 47 Payor Rider .................................................................................................................. 48 Premium Waiver and Universal Life ............................................................................. 48 Accidental Death .......................................................................................................... 48 Accidental Death and Dismemberment .......................................................................... 49 Loss Amount Paid ........................................................................................................ 49 Disability Income Rider ............................................................................................... 49 ACCELERATED DEATH BENEFIT RIDER ............................................................................................ 50 Terminal Illness ........................................................................................................... 50 Catastrophic Illness ...................................................................................................... 50 ii Long Term Care Coverage ............................................................................................ 50 GUARANTEED INSURABILITY.................................................................................................................... 51 COST OF LIVING RIDER (COLA) ............................................................................................................ 51 TERM RIDER.................................................................................................................................................. 52 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................................ 52 CHAPTER FOUR - TRADITIONAL LIFE INSURANCE ......................................... 56 TERM LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES ............................................................................................................. 56 RENEWABLE TERM POLICIES ..................................................................................................................... 56 LEVEL PREMIUM POLICIES ......................................................................................................................... 57 VARYING FACE AMOUNT TERM INSURANCE ...................................................................................... 58 ENDOWMENT INSURANCE ............................................................................................................................. 59 WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE ............................................................................................................................... 59 ORDINARY LIFE INSURANCE ........................................................................................................................ 60 LIMITED PAYMENT WHOLE LIFE .............................................................................................................. 61 CURRENT ASSUMPTION WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE ........................................................................... 62 CAWL Low-premium Plan ........................................................................................... 63 CAWL High-premium Plan ........................................................................................... 63 MODIFIED LIFE INSURANCE ....................................................................................................................... 64 “ENHANCED” LIFE INSURANCE ................................................................................................................. 64 GRADED PREMIUM WHOLE LIFE .............................................................................................................. 65 DEBIT INSURANCE .......................................................................................................................................... 65 FAMILY POLICY ............................................................................................................................................... 66 JUVENILE INSURANCE .................................................................................................................................. 66 BURIAL INSURANCE....................................................................................................................................... 67 MULTIPLE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES ................................................................................................... 67 DISINTERMEDIATION ....................................................................................................................................... 68 REPLACEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................................................................................... 69 GROUP LIFE INSURANCE ................................................................................................................................ 70 GROUP INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS ...................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................................ 74 1B 2A 3B 4A 5C 6B 7C 8A 9B 10A 11C 12B 13A 14B 15A 76 CHAPTER FIVE - INTEREST SENSITIVE LIFE INSURANCE ............................. 77 VARIABLE LIFE INSURANCE ......................................................................................................................... 77 MARKET SHARE OF VLI ................................................................................................................................ 79 ADVANTAGE OF VLI ...................................................................................................................................... 80 UNIVERSAL LIFE................................................................................................................................................. 81 DEATH BENEFITS ............................................................................................................................................ 83 An Adjustable Death Benefit ........................................................................................ 83 Death Benefit Options: ................................................................................................. 83 OPTION A ....................................................................................................................................................... 83 OPTION B ......................................................................................................................................................... 84 THE CASH VALUE ACCOUNT ...................................................................................................................... 84 CHARGES TO THE ACCOUNT ................................................................................................................. 84 iii SINGLE PREMIUM UNIVERSAL LIFE ........................................................................................................ 85 THE ADJUSTABLE PREMIUM ...................................................................................................................... 85 THE IMPORTANCE OF PREMIUM FLEXIBILITY.................................................................................... 86 INCREASING THE PREMIUM PAYMENT ............................................................................................. 86 USES FOR THE CASH VALUE ACCOUNT ................................................................................................. 87 VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE ......................................................................................................................... 90 FEATURES OF THE VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE POLICY ............................................................... 90 STANDARD PROVISIONS .......................................................................................................................... 92 Grace Period ............................................................................................................................................... 92 Reinstatement ............................................................................................................................................. 92 Free-Look Provision .................................................................................................................................. 92 Conversion Privilege ................................................................................................................................. 92 Annual Report ............................................................................................................................................. 92 Riders & Options Available ..................................................................................................................... 93 MODIFIED ENDOWMENT CONTRACTS ............................................................................................... 93 Using a MEC ............................................................................................................................................... 94 TAXATION AND REGULATION ................................................................................................................... 95 1. Cash Value Accumulation Test ........................................................................................................... 95 2. The Corridor Test .................................................................................................................................. 96 3. The Seven-pay Test ............................................................................................................................... 96 CORRIDOR RATIO ..................................................................................................... 97 NASD CONDUCT RULES ................................................................................................................................ 98 ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................................................................................. 98 SPECIAL NASD CONDUCT RULES REGARDING VARIABLE CONTRACTS ............................. 99 USES FOR VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE ...................................................................... 100 THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF VUL ............................................................................................................... 101 Chapter 5 .......................................................................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER SIX - TAXATION OF LIFE INSURANCE ............................................ 105 INCOME TAX ....................................................................................................................................................... 105 PREMIUMS ........................................................................................................................................................ 105 DEATH BENEFITS .......................................................................................................................................... 105 TRANSFER FOR VALUE RULE .............................................................................................................. 106 IRC SECTION 7702 DEFINITION OF LIFE INSURANCE ..................................................................... 106 OTHER CAUSES FOR PROCEEDS TO BE TAXED ............................................................................ 107 Alternative Minimum Tax........................................................................................... 108 TAXES ON SETTLEMENT OPTIONS .................................................................................................... 108 TAXATION OF LIVING PROCEEDS .......................................................................................................... 108 MODIFIED ENDOWMENT CONTRACT (MEC) ................................................................................. 108 DIVIDENDS .................................................................................................................................................. 109 CASH VALUE .............................................................................................................................................. 109 SECTION 1035 POLICY EXCHANGES .................................................................................................. 109 MATURED ENDOWMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 110 POLICY LOANS .......................................................................................................................................... 110 ACCELERATED DEATH BENEFIT TAXATION ................................................................................. 111 ANNUITIES .................................................................................................................................................. 111 FEDERAL ESTATE TAX .................................................................................................................................. 111 Annuities ................................................................................................................... 112 Joint Owned Property ................................................................................................. 113 Tenancy by The Entirety ............................................................................................ 113 Tenancy in Common ................................................................................................... 113 Community Property .................................................................................................. 113 iv Power of Appointment ................................................................................................ 113 Life Insurance in the Gross Estate ............................................................................... 114 Taxable Estate ........................................................................................................... 114 GIFT TAX ...................................................................................................................................................... 115 Gifts of Insurance ...................................................................................................... 115 GENERATION-SKIPPING TRANSFER TAX ........................................................................................ 116 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TAX RELIEF RECONCILIATION ACT 2001 .................................... 116 PRINCIPAL FEATURES ................................................................................................................................... 116 INCREASE OF EXEMPTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 117 ESTATE AND GST TAX RATES .................................................................................................................. 117 REPEAL OF TAXES ........................................................................................................................................ 118 GIFT TAX EXEMPTION AND RATES ........................................................................................................ 118 STEP-UP BASIS IN ESTATES ...................................................................................................................... 119 CREDIT FOR DEATH TAXES AT THE STATE LEVEL ......................................................................... 120 DEDUCTION ALLOWED FOR STATE .................................................................. 120 DEDUCTION FOR FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS .................................................................................... 120 ANNUAL GIFT TAX EXCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 120 CAPITAL GAINS EXEMPTION .................................................................................................................... 121 Chapter 6 .......................................................................................................................................................... 121 Answers to Chapter Six Study Questions ........................................................................... 123 CHAPTER SEVEN – LIFE INSURANCE IN FINANCIAL & ESTATE PLANNING .................................................................................................................................... 124 DETERMINING FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................. 125 Cash Objectives ......................................................................................................... 125 Income Objectives ...................................................................................................... 125 ESTATE PLANNING ....................................................................................................................................... 126 DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY AT DEATH........................................................................................... 126 Probate ...................................................................................................................... 126 Nature of property ownership ..................................................................................... 126 Contract ..................................................................................................................... 126 By Law ...................................................................................................................... 126 WILLS ............................................................................................................................................................ 126 TRUSTS .............................................................................................................................................................. 127 BASIC TRUSTS ............................................................................................................................................ 127 Marital Trusts ............................................................................................................ 127 Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust (QTIP) .................................................... 128 Bypass Trust .............................................................................................................. 128 Trust for Minor Children ............................................................................................ 128 Crummey Trust .......................................................................................................... 129 IRREVOCABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRUSTS ...................................................................................... 129 Charitable Remainder Trusts....................................................................................... 130 Using Life Insurance with CRT .................................................................................. 130 USING TRUSTS UNDER EGTRRA 2001 .................................................................................................... 131 REVIEW EXISTING ESTATE PLAN ........................................................................................................... 132 THE EFFECT OF THE EXPIRATION PROVISION .................................................................................. 133 THE EFFECT OF DYING UNDER THE TAX ACT ................................................................................... 133 THE ROLE OF LIFE INSURANCE WITH THE TAX ACT ..................................................................... 134 APPLICATION OF STEP-UP IN BASIS AFTER 2010 ............................................................................. 135 INCOME IN RESPECT TO A DECEDENT ................................................................................................. 136 SUMMARY OF BENEFITS OF LIFE INSURANCE FOR PLANNING ................................................. 136 v Chapter 7 .......................................................................................................................................................... 137 1C 2A 3C 4B 5C 6A 7B 8C 9C 10C 11A 12B 13B 14C 15A .............. 139 CHAPTER EIGHT - BUSINESS USES OF LIFE INSURANCE ........................... 140 BUSINESS CONTINUATION ........................................................................................................................... 140 CLOSELY HELD FIRMS .................................................................................................................................... 140 SOLE PROPRIETORSHIPS ....................................................................................................................... 141 PARTNERSHIPS .......................................................................................................................................... 141 BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS ............................................................................................................ 142 Entity Approach ......................................................................................................... 143 Cross-purchase Approach ........................................................................................... 143 TAXATION OF PARTNERSHIP BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS ................................................ 143 CLOSELY HELD CORPORATIONS ........................................................................................................ 144 Death of a Majority Stockholder ................................................................................. 144 Death of a Minority Stockholder ................................................................................. 145 CORPORATE BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS.................................................................................. 145 Taxation of Corporate Buy-and-Sell Agreements ......................................................... 145 CROSS-PURCHASE vs STOCK REDEMPTION AGREEMENTS ..................................................... 146 TAXATION ............................................................................................................................................... 146 STOCK REDEMPTIONS UNDER SECTION 303 ................................................................................. 147 MISCELLANEOUS CONCERNS .............................................................................................................. 148 KEY EMPLOYEE INSURANCE ...................................................................................................................... 148 PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE ........................................................................................................... 149 TERM LIFE INSURANCE .......................................................................................................................... 149 SALARY CONTINUATION PLAN .......................................................................................................... 150 DEATH BENEFIT ONLY LIFE INSURANCE PLAN ........................................................................... 150 SPLIT-DOLLAR LIFE INSURANCE ....................................................................................................... 150 Reverse Split-Dollar Plan ........................................................................................... 151 Collateral Assignment System .................................................................................... 152 Choosing the Best Method of Split-Dollar Plan ........................................................... 153 MISCELLANEOUS USES OF SPLIT-DOLLAR PLANS ..................................................................... 154 Sole Proprietor ........................................................................................................... 154 Cross-Purchase Buy-and-Sell Agreement .................................................................... 154 Family Split-Dollar Plan ............................................................................................. 155 EXECUTIVE BONUS PLAN .......................................................................................................................... 155 Chapter 8 .......................................................................................................................................................... 156 1B 2C 3B 4C 5A 6B 7A 8C 9A 10A ................................................... 157 CHAPTER NINE - UNDERWRITING ...................................................................... 158 ADVERSE SELECTION .................................................................................................................................. 159 UNDERWRITING FACTORS......................................................................................................................... 160 AGE ................................................................................................................................................................. 160 SEX ................................................................................................................................................................. 160 PHYSICAL CONDITION ........................................................................................................................... 161 BUILD ........................................................................................................................................................ 161 ABNORMALITIES .................................................................................................................................. 161 PERSONAL HEALTH HISTORY......................................................................................................... 161 FAMILY HISTORY ................................................................................................................................ 162 TOBACCO USE ....................................................................................................................................... 162 FINANCIAL CONDITION .................................................................................................................... 163 ALCOHOL AND DRUGS ...................................................................................................................... 163 OCCUPATION ......................................................................................................................................... 164 vi AVOCATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 164 MILITARY SERVICE ............................................................................................................................. 164 UNDERWRITING INFORMATION ............................................................................................................... 165 APPLICATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 165 PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ................................................................................................................ 166 LABORATORY TESTS .......................................................................................................................... 166 ATTENDING PHYSICIANS’ STATEMENTS ................................................................................... 166 INSPECTION COMPANIES .................................................................................................................. 167 DATABASES – MEDICAL INFORMATION BUREAU (MIB) ..................................................... 168 CLASSIFICATION PROCESS ................................................................................................................... 169 THE RATING SYSTEM .............................................................................................................................. 170 RATING IMPAIRED RISKS ...................................................................................................................... 171 RATING PROCEDURES OF IMPAIRED RISKS ............................................................................. 172 FLAT EXTRA PREMIUM .......................................................................................................................... 173 MISCELLANEOUS RATING SYSTEMS ................................................................................................ 174 UNINSURABILITY ..................................................................................................................................... 174 REINSURANCE ................................................................................................................................................ 175 RETENTION ................................................................................................................................................. 176 TYPES OF REINSURANCE ...................................................................................................................... 177 PROPORTIONAL REINSURANCE ..................................................................................................... 177 NONPROPORTIONAL REINSURANCE ............................................................................................ 177 stop-loss reinsurance .............................................................................................................................. 177 CATASTROPHE REINSURANCE ....................................................................................................... 178 SPREAD-LOSS REINSURANCE ......................................................................................................... 178 REINSURANCE CONTRACTS ................................................................................................................. 178 FACULTATIVE TREATY ..................................................................................................................... 178 AUTOMATIC TREATY ......................................................................................................................... 178 FACULTATIVE OBLIGATORY .......................................................................................................... 179 REINSURANCE PLANS ................................................................................................................................. 179 YEARLY RENEWABLE TERM (YRT) ................................................................................................... 179 COINSURANCE ........................................................................................................................................... 180 MODIFIED COINSURANCE ..................................................................................................................... 180 ASSUMPTION REINSURANCE ............................................................................................................... 180 SURPLUS RELIEF ....................................................................................................................................... 181 Chapter 9 .......................................................................................................................................................... 182 CHAPTER TEN - INSURANCE REGULATION AND ORGANIZATION ............. 185 FEDERAL REGULATION ................................................................................................................................ 186 STATE REGULATION ....................................................................................................................................... 188 THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS (NAIC) ............................. 188 SUPERVISION BY STATE REGULATIONS ............................................................................................. 189 FINANCIAL REGULATION ..................................................................................................................... 192 Reserves .................................................................................................................... 193 LIFE AND HEALTH GUARANTY ASSOCIATIONS ............................................................................... 194 TAXATION OF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES .................................................................................... 194 FEDERAL TAXATION .................................................................................................................................... 195 TAXATION OF DIVIDENDS ......................................................................................................................... 196 LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY ORGANIZATION ................................................................................... 197 STOCK INSURERS .......................................................................................................................................... 198 MUTUAL INSURERS ...................................................................................................................................... 198 vii HOLDING COMPANIES ................................................................................................................................. 199 OUTSOURCING ................................................................................................................................................ 200 HOME OFFICE ORGANIZATION ................................................................................................................ 200 Board of Directors...................................................................................................... 200 Executive Officers ..................................................................................................... 201 Actuarial .................................................................................................................... 201 Marketing .................................................................................................................. 201 Accounting ................................................................................................................ 201 Investment ................................................................................................................. 201 Legal ......................................................................................................................... 202 Underwriting .............................................................................................................. 202 Administration ........................................................................................................... 202 Policyowner Service ..................................................................................................................... 202 Claims Administration .............................................................................................................. 202 Information Systems ................................................................................................................. 202 Human Resources ...................................................................................................................... 203 MARKETING ..................................................................................................................................................... 203 Marketing Intermediaries ............................................................................................ 203 Agency-Building Distribution ..................................................................................... 204 Brokers ...................................................................................................................... 204 Personal-Producing General Agents ............................................................................ 205 Independent Non-life Agents ...................................................................................... 205 Large Producer Groups ............................................................................................... 205 Financial Institutions .................................................................................................. 205 Direct Response ......................................................................................................... 206 THE FUTURE OF LIFE INSURANCE .......................................................................................................... 206 Chapter 10 ........................................................................................................................................................ 209 GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................ 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 242 viii CHAPTER ONE - H ISTORY & ELE ME NTS OF L IFE IN S URANCE As with many of the institutions of the civilized world, life insurance can be traced back to a Greek heritage, even though some scholars attribute the origin of life insurance to the Code of Hammurabi, about 1750 B.C., which provided for the state to pay indemnity for the murder of a member of the household, by a robber. The Greek societies, basically religious groups which flourished around 500 B.C. to 200 B.C., provided a fund for burial as it was believed that the departed could gain entrance into what they conceived as their “heaven” through a system of rituals, feasts and sacrifices to their gods. Obviously, this was expensive, so the fund was created to offset these final expenses. The Roman “collegia”, which was similar to the Greek societies, gradually became mutual benefit associations and had specific benefits and operated from membership contributions. These associations ceased to exist after the decline of the Roman empire. However, the need for such societies/organizations continued and were followed by “Guilds” which while being organized for religious, social and economic reasons, did provide relief for several perils, such as shipwreck, loss of home by fire, loss of tools used to make a living, etc. While these guilds originated primarily in England, t hey also were present in Japan as Craftsmen’s guilds from the end of the 1600’s until nearly 1900. The English created the English Friendly Societies, which were actually mutual benefit groups and while they were not concerned with trade, religious or sim ilar groups, they provided some death or burial fund benefit. They were funded by assessments, but since they were not constructed on any scientific or actuarial basis, the financial burdens evolved to the younger members, who, being mostly in good health , dropped out of the plan. Therefore, some private insurance companies were formed, failed, and formed again, but they were all the ancestors of the true life insurance concept. The earliest insurers were wealthy individuals who either alone, or with a c onsortium of other wealthy persons, assumed insurance risks. They were for short duration, and were used for such situations as the voyage of ships. Of course, life insurance could not be written in this fashion as the insured could possibly outlive the i nsurers. Incidentally, the insurers would sign their name(s) under the amount of the risk that they were agreeing to bear, hence they were called “underwriters.” The earliest life insurance contract on record was written in 1583 for a period of 12 months, on the life of a William Gybbons, for a premium of 75 pounds, with a “face amount” of over 383 pounds. Interestingly, the insured died just before the end of the year, but the underwriters refused to pay because they insisted that their payments were 1 based on “lunar months” (which are longer than calendar months). The English courts would have nothing to do with that, so the underwriter(s) paid. The first true mutual insurance company for life insurance was The Life Assurance And Annuity Association, established in 1699, which went out of business 46 years later. Then the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office was formed, which did not offer a stated death benefit, but operated more as a “tontine” (described below). Around 1720, two English insurers which were stock companies, created a monopoly on British insurance, but when The Equitable applied for a charter in 1761 and it was denied, they formed a mutual company (which did not require a charter). The Equitable is considered as the first life insurance company that operated on a modern insurance basis. The modern life insurance company had its origins in Europe, and the Equitable was followed by The Globe in 1803, and other companies in France in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. The first stock life insurer in Germany was formed in 1828, and The Prudential (U.K. company), formed in 1848 was the first company to introduce industrial insurance about 1850. As is typical with many industries in Europe, the government and the insurers were intertwined in many ways, and some governments used the insurers as a means to raise funds for government expenditures. One of these systems was the French system of “tontines” and in the past, some new insurance operations were compared to tontines . In the late 1600’s, King Louis XIV of France used an annuity scheme to raise funds for the government, which the government needed very badly at that time. This scheme was created by a nobleman, one Lorenzo Tonti (from which comes, tontine). It worked as follows: All participants would contribute a specified sum each year, and from these “payments”, a sum was set aside each year to purchase an annuity for life to those who participated in the tontine. As the participants died off and their payments were no longer being received by the other participants, the amount of the annuities grew every year, and was available to the survivors. Therefore, the longer one lived, the larger the amount of the annuity that was paid out to the survivors. Later, other governments and some private firms used the tontine scheme, until it was outlawed in the early 20 th century. In the early colonial years in the United States, the English insurers had a monopoly, and there were few, if any, colonials that were wealthy enough to compete as individual underwriters. However, before the Civil War, some English “orders”, such as the Odd Fellows and the Foresters, were introduced into the U.S. and they exerted a strong fraternal influence at that time. 2 The first mutual life insurer in the U.S. was the Corporation for the Relief of the Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and for the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers, founded in Philadelphia in 1759. (Imagine representing this company at a convention – the sheer size name tag would be impressive!) This company incidentally, is now part of the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. Mutual of New York (MONY) was formed in 1842 and other mutual insurers were formed until the state of New York in 1849 required all insurers to place a security deposit of $100,000 with the State insurance department. This move was instigated by the established mutuals and effectively stopped the creation of new mutuals. The first stock insurer was Insurance Company of North America, chartered in 1794, basically to sell annuities, and 10 years later it had only sold 6 life insurance policies, so it closed the doors on its life insurance business. The first company in the U.S. that sold a decent amount of life insurance was The Pennsylvania Company for the Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities, chartered in 1812, discontinuing its business 60 years later. The Prudential Insurance Company of America introduced industrial life insurance in 1875, followed by John Hancock and Metropolitan Life. The marketing of industrial life insurance had probably the greatest influence on the public awareness of life insurance in the United States. W H Y L I FE I N S U R A N C E While it may seem rather cold economists have recognized for many years that there is an economic value to a human life and that these values are an important and necessary part of the nation’s economic wealth. The marketplace universally acknowledges investment in the human personal development, so any imp rovement in this investment is recognized as increases in income and/or wages. Therefore, any increase in earnings is simply an increase in the yield in an investment. For instance, those with college degrees traditionally make more money than those without such degrees, therefore this difference in income can be considered as a return of the investment in education. For centuries, from the Code of Hammuabi, and throughout the religious texts such as the Bible and the Koran, and especially in early Anglo -Saxon law, there have been established methods of determining compensation given to a relative of an individual who was killed by a third party. Today, the value of a human life taken by a third party, and the recovery for wrongful death is in the news continually, with libraries full of books on wrongful death situations, cases and laws - it is a very large and important part of Liability insurance. For the purpose of Life Insurance, the computation of the value of a human life takes a more scientific approach, as contrasted with the legalistic approaches used to determine 3 how much money a surviving relative is awarded. The impact of and the importance of punitive damages is more properly discussed in books on liability and property and casualty insurance. It is difficult to determine the value of a human life for insurance purposes, as every human life is unique and some, if not many, believe that it is not appropriate to attempt to place a monetary value on human life in any event because society do es not condone the sale of a human life. Therefore, it is important to stress that the “Human Life Value” concept is a method of placing a value on the services of a person’s life . This is not unaccepted or immoral; indeed the ownership of a person’s lif e itself is what is unaccepted and immoral. The “Human Life Value” concept was first introduced in the 1920’s, but as any Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) can attest, in 1942, S.S. Huebner proposed this concept as a philosophical framework for analyzing certain economic risks that individuals face. Without going into the qualitative and quantitative considerations of the Human Life Value concept, this concept recognizes that a human life is subject to 4 types of losses: premature death, incapacity (disability); retirement and unemployment. Since any of these losses can affect an individual’s earning capacity, there is a resultant negative impact on their human life value. Even though the probability of loss from death or disability is considerably greate r than from any other commonly insured peril, people still generally purchase property insurance and avoid purchasing life (or disability) insurance. When life insurance is purchased, it is usually for an inadequate (sometime insignificant) amount. The human life value concept is highly recommended for a serious student of Life Insurance. A general feeling for this concept can be obtained by recognizing Dr. Huebner’s “Human Life Value Admonitions.” 1. The human life value should be carefully “appraised and capitalized.” For those who earn more than is necessary to individually maintain their own lifestyle, the excess amount is of value to those who are dependent upon it (generally this is the family). The present value of this excess earnings creates an economic basis for life (& health) insurance. 2. “The human life value is the creator of property values, i.e., the human life value is the cause and property values are the effect.” 3. “The family is an economic unit which is organized around the human life values of its members.” The “family” per se, needs to be treated just like any other business and its organization and management, and eventual discontinuance, in the same manner that a business would go through these phases. 4. “The human live value and the protection it affords must be considered as the principal (economic) link between the present and succeeding generations.” The 4 earnings of the breadwinner(s) create the funds and the foundation for the proper education and development of the children in case the breadwinner(s) are unable to fulfill that role because of death or disability. 5. Because of the significance of the human life value, the areas affecting the successful operation of a business must be used to life values as well, such as appraisal, indemnity and even depreciation. L AW O F L A R GE NU MB E RS The entire function of insurance of any type is to guard against financial conclusions of perils by having the losses of those who suffer from the effect of these perils, paid by the contributions of many that are concerned that they will also suffer from the effects of these perils. To be concise, this is “insurance in a nutshell” – sharing of losses. Insurance relies upon the effects of the laws of large numbers to reduce the speculative element of insurance, and to compensate for fluctuations in losses. Simply put, the law of large numbers that applies to life insurance states that the larger the number of those insured against premature death, the less the loss experience will “deviate” from th e expected loss experience. This law of large numbers does not mean that losses to particular insureds will be more easily predicted, it simply means that the more persons insured, the more the loss experience can be predicted, all things being equal. If a single person is insured for $1,000, this would be a gamble; and if the number is increased to 100, then there still is a gamble. However if half a million persons are insured for $1,000, anticipated death rates will vary from actual death rates by no more than one percent. Theoretically, if the number of lives insured on the same basis were of sufficient number so that the law of large numbers would be exactly predictable, then there would be no uncertainty in the estimating losses during a given period of time, barring catastrophes such a war, terrorist attacks, mad -cow diseases, or other epidemics. The major difference between life insurance and non-life insurance, is that the peril insured against, premature death, is an uncertainty for a year, and each year thereafter. However, the probability of death will increase until it is a virtual certainty – everyone dies at some time or other. (It is a “virtual” certainty as it is possible for a person to outlive the insurance policy – for instance a person who lives past age 100 will have outlived the mortality tables). Therefore, if a life insurance policy is to protect an individual throughout the lifetime of the individual, a fund must be generated to meet a claim that is certain to occur. (Even a person age 101 will receive the fund, one way or the other). 5 Many persons consider insurance as “gambling”, particularly with life insurance, where they believe that the insurance company is simply gambling that they will die prematurely. A very important principle of insurance is as follows: Insurance transfers an existing exposure and, through the pooling of similar loss exposures, reduces risk. Another definition widely accepted: Life insurance is a device to spread the cost of financial loss resulting from death from an individual to a group through an insurance company by transferring the cost so the financial loss to any one individual is small. Make no mistake; however, insurers much prefer that their insured do not suffer the loss for which they are insured. In life insurance such losses are inevitable, and the insurer plans for such losses within the premium structure. D E T E R MI N I N G P R E MI U M FO R L I FE I N S U R A N C E Premiums for insurance should always meet three criteria; they must be adequate, reasonable (or equitable), and should not be excessive. First, premiums must be adequate in order for the insurance company to provide the benefits contracted with an individual under the contract with the insurer (the policy). Obviously, if the premiums are not adequate then the insurance company will eventually not be able to pay the claims to the insured, so everyone suffers. Secondly, the premium must be reasonable (or equitable) and the insurance company should not be able to earn an excessive profit. The pursuit of equity is one of the goals of underwriting (discussed in more detail later in this text) and equitable treatment of insureds is accomplished by rating factors such as age, sex, plan, health and benefits provided. And lastly, the premiums must not be unfairly discriminatory or inequitable. There are different interpretations of “inequitable,” for example; some feel that it is not acceptable to charge different life (and health) insurance rates to men and women who are otherwise identically situated. One of the strongest forces that keep premiums from becoming excessive is simply that of competition. Theoretically, one could say that each insurance applicant should pay an exclusive (unique) premium to reflect a different expectation of loss, but this would be impractical (imagine agents having to carry a huge rate manual everywhere). So, classifications are established for applicants to be grouped together according to similar expectation of loss. Statistical studies of a large number of nearly homogeneous 6 (similar or identical in nature or form) exposures in each underwriting classification enable the projection of losses after adjustments for future inflation and statistical irregularities. These adjusted statistics are used to calculate the pure cost of protection, or pure premium, to which the insurance company adds on “loadings” for agent commissions, premium taxes, administrative expenses, contingency reserves, other acquisition costs and profit margin. The result is the gross premium that is charged to the insured. PRICI NG The pricing of life insurance is a complex, technical and methodical procedure, performed by actuaries who are arguably the most technically educated professionals in the insurance industry. Therefore it is completely outside the purview of this text to discuss in detail the actual pricing procedure. However, in order to understand life insurance, it is necessary to understand certain elements of pricing life insurance and how they apply to the determination of life insurance premiums. It is generally acknowledged that in order to determine the insurance premium (and reserves) there must be information and assumptions available regarding four elements: (1) the probability of the insured event happening; (2) the time value of money; (3) the benefits of the contract; and (4) loadings. Before the insurer can determine the amount of the premium to be charged to each insured, the probability of losses for the group as a whole must be determined. In life insurance, these probabilities are shown on a yearly basis as mortality tables. (For health insurance, morbidity tables show yearly probabilities of loss.) These tables are the very foundation of life (or health) pricing. Other important factors in pricing includes the fact that those people who purchase life insurance are not all of the same age, and obviously, younger people have a less likely chance to die in the early years than older persons. Therefore premiums rates should be higher for older persons than for the younger persons. Another factor is that life (and health) insurance companies require that premiums be paid in advance, and for policies of longer maturity, the portion of the premium that is not needed to cover immediate benefits is invested to fund future expected benefits and expenses. Other important items must be taken into consideration, for instance the amount of coverage, the level of coverage, etc., and very importantly, the recognition that some policies will remain in force longer than others – this is called persistency. There are a wide variety of policies sold, as later discussions will reveal, as some insure against death or disability for a certain number of years or for the whole of life and premiums may be paid for a short period of time, or for the length of coverage. With some policies premiums are fixed, with some they vary according to the wishes and 7 needs of the policyowner, or vary with the tem of the policy. Some policies pay a single sum at death or maturity; others pay a benefit over a period of years. There are obviously many differences, and each type of policy will have its own statistics. There is one important factor when discussing life insurance premiums: unlike other kinds of insurance, the life insurance policy cannot be cancelled and can extend for a long period of time. Net rates are calculated to recognize the probability of the insured event, the time value of the money, and the benefits of the contract. When expenses and other loadings are added to the net rates, then they become Gross rates. Practically speaking, companies frequently do not develop new net rates for new products introduced, especially if there are similar products already in the marketplace. The rates on those plans will be analyzed by the actuaries to determine if those premiums meet the company’s objectives and profit requirements. If not, the premiums will be so adjusted. If it is discovered that the rates are higher than those needed by the profit requirements of the company, the rates could be adjusted downward. If they are inadequate, then the actuaries will have to determine if they (1) want to develop such a product for their own sales force; (2) if they want to maintain a comparative premium so that their sales force can be competitive, even if the premiums do not quite match the company’s objectives; or (3) if benefits can be changed in such a fashion so that the price will be competitive, but certain benefits may be different or less. Of course, the actuaries may determine the gross premiums by using what is considered as a realistic interest, mortality, expense, taxes and persistency assumptions and with the company objectives and profit margin intact. YEARLY RENEW ABLE TERM RATE CALCULATION As stated earlier, it is entirely beyond the purview of this text to go into detail as to rate calculation; however the calculation of the premium for a Yearly Renewable Term (YRT) policy, the simplest term insurance policy, can be understood and is quite illustrative. An YRT policy provides coverage for a period of one year only, but allows the policyowner to renew the policy at the end of each year, even if the policyowner suffers poor health. Therefore, each year’s premium pays the policy’s share of the mortality cost for that particular year, only. The premium then increases each year which reflects the increase in mortality (more persons dying) each year as the individual gets older. Mortality tables are derived from company’s experiences for certain periods of time. One table in common use is the 1980 Commissioners Standard Ordinary (CSO) Mortality Table. It is used by regulatory bodies for determining the reserves that must be posted by the insurance companies and regulators require very conservative 8 assumptions, particularly when it comes to establishing reserves – as their primary function is to make sure that insurance companies have sufficient funds on hand to pay claims. While mortality has improved considerably since 1980, this mortality table is still used in some situations. The following chart shows the rates of mortality per 1,000 lives: AGE 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 99 MALE 0.73 1.90 1.73 3.02 6.71 16.08 36.51 98.84 221.77 1,000.00 FEMALE 0.68 1.05 1.38 2.42 4.96 9.47 22.11 65.99 190.75 1,000.00 This table shows that the chances of dying increase with age, and it also shows that female mortality is better than male mortality – which incidentally shows up in all mortality tables, including foreign tables. Therefore, males pay higher premiums for life insurance (females pay higher premiums for annuities for the same reason). As an example, the mortality rates for females age 30 is 1.38 per 1,000 lives. Therefore, if 100,000 females age 30 are insured for $1,000 each, the insurance company would pay 138 death claims for a total of $138,000. If 100,000 persons were insured, the company would have to collect $1.38 from each insured to meet the 138 death claims. This is the death rate and it ignores investment income and loadings. If the insurer assumes a 5% investment return on all funds invested, and since premiums are paid at the beginning of the policy year (which is typical), and then use the (unrealistic) assumption that all death claims are paid at the end of the year (for simplicity and illustrative purposes), the insurer would then have the funds for an entire year for investment. The insurer does not have to collect the entire $138,000, but only has to collect $131,430 ($131,430 x 1.05 = $138,000 [$1.50 left over]), or collect $1.31 from each insured. To this would be added expenses (loading) and simply put, the loading expenses would be distributed among the 100,000 lives and added to the total premium, then split among the policyowners. This is simple, but it should be taken one step further to explain the process of determining premiums for a level premium policy. In the situation above, the pre mium will have to increase each year, and where the mortality rate goes up, premiums 9 increase. Then what inevitably happens? Obviously there will be some insureds drop out as the premiums become too expensive, particularly the healthy ones. This means that the ones who are not as healthy (or as old) will remain, as they are more likely to incur a claim. This is known as adverse selection (discussed later in more detail) and it means that those who are more likely to receive benefits will stay, and the b etter risks will leave. Because of this, insurers are likely to limit the period in which an YRT policy can be renewed, or will adopt much higher premium levels at the older ages to compensate for the adverse selection. For single-premium life insurance plans, a modified CSO mortality table (Commissioners Standard Ordinary) approved by the NAIC and used in calculating minimum non-forfeiture values and policy reserves for ordinary life insurance policies. It depicts the number of people dying each year out of the original population, not as individuals, but in age groups. The formula to obtain those premiums uses the number living at the first of the year (such as 100,000 in the previous illustration) decreased by increments as the population of the tables age. Actually, a life insurance policy can be seen as a series of YRT insurance policies continuing to the end of the mortality table. With single premium plans, the premiums are all paid in advance for the life of the policy, so the excess funds wil l have to be invested and then credited properly throughout the life of the contract. Few persons purchase life insurance on a single premium basis because of the up -front premium. Also, because of the ever-increasing premiums for an YRT policy, few people are interested in purchasing YRT insurance, except for special situations where short term insurance is needed. These problems are solved through the use of a level premium plan. Level premium plans were devised so that the company can accept the same premium each year if the premiums collected are the mathematical equivalent of the corresponding single premium. As is obvious, the premiums collected in the early years will be more than necessary to pay for death claims, and the premiums in the lat er years will not be sufficient to pay death claims. It has sometimes been said that life insurance was the first product that was sold on an installment plan. The premium is level because of this overpayment of premium in the early years. At any time, the fund, future interest and future premiums, all together, should be mathematically able to pay all death claims as they occur during the time that the coverage continues. A “whole life” policy can have premiums paid over the entire policy duration – this policy is also known as ordinary life insurance. Whole life policies can have level premiums that can be paid over a shorter period, such as 10 or 20 years, or for a specified period, such as age 65. 10 RESERVE CALCULATION There is one other important calculation that must be discussed, that of policy reserves. Reserves will be considered in more detail later in this text, but at this point the “Prospective” Reserve definition is applicable. A Prospective Reserve is the amount designated as a future liability for life (or health) insurance to meet the difference between future benefits and future premiums. In determining this reserve, the Net Level Premium is determined so that this basic relationship holds: The present value of a future premium equals the present value of a future benefit (which is a simpler way of expressing the Prospective Reserve). This relationship, incidentally, exists in fact only at the point of issuance of a life insurance policy. After that, the value of future premiums is less than the value of future benefits because fewer premiums are left to be paid. Thus, a reserve must be maintained at all times to make up this difference. The actual amount of life insurance protection (before loading) at any point in the policy term is the difference between the policy reserve at that point, and the face amount. This is called the net amount at risk. When looked at in this aspect, it is simply dividing a life insurance into two sections – an increasing reserve and a decreasing net amount at risk. FLEXIBLE PREMIUM PLANS Many insurers sell policies that have flexible premiums; i.e. the policyowner determines the amount of premium that they would like to pay. This is the case with Universal Life (UL), Variable Universal Life, etc. Unlike other policies, the cash values of a Universal Life policy are a function of the premium payments that have been made in 11 the past, and in the present. The UL type of products have cash values that are determined differently than the calculation of the Net Amount at Risk, as shown above where the Net Amount at Risk and the Reserve always equal the face amount of the policy. Rather, the cash values of the UL products are determined by the way the policy is structured. The policyowner may pay whatever premium they wish (subject to company rules). An amount, which is equal to the insurer’s loading and expenses, and mortality charge, is subtracted from the cash value. Thereafter, the amount remaining in the cash value, plus any premium payment made and the previous period’s fund balance equals the cash value for the next period. The mortality charges are based on the policy’s net amount at risk, but using a cash value instead of the reserve. Any interest earnings on the cash value are credited to the cash value, usually on a monthly basis. In addition, there usually is a surrender charge if the policy is terminated early. This is a highly flexible plan (as discussed later) so there can be no illustration to show how the premium develops, as the insured develops the premium payment schedule as they wish. T H E S A V I N GS E L E ME N T I N L I FE I N S U R A N C E Many life insurance policies have cash values and all cash values stem from the same cause; the excess premium charged in the early years in order to maintain a level premium. However, cash value is viewed by the general public as simply a by -product of the level premium payment-of-premium method. This was the view held for many years, until the advent of interest-sensitive insurance products, in particular Universal Life. In these cases, the cash value is looked upon as a separate and independent part of the policy, from which funds are withdrawn to pay for mortality and loading charges. Some have considered a permanent type of level premium policy as simply a liability held by the insurance company to pay any future claims – the reserves – plus term insurance. To some this is witnessed by the ability to withdraw all of the cash value, and the policyowner can borrow part of the cash values as a loan . Regardless of the appearance of two contracts – death benefit and cash value – it is important to understand that it is still only one policy. This is evidenced by the fact that a policyowner cannot withdraw all of the cash value without also giving up all of the death protection. Legally, and actuarially, a life insurance policy is an indivisible contract. Unfortunately, some companies and individuals continue to present permanent life insurance as a combination of decreasing term and increasing savi ngs. Not too many years ago, there have been financial fortunes built on the concept of “buy term, and invest the difference.” Universal Life will be discussed in more detail later, however at this point it is important to recognize that Universal Life (UL) and other “interest-sensitive” products 12 are different from other insurance products inasmuch as they are extremely flexible and they are “transparent.” UL type policies are flexible as the policyowner may increase or decrease the premium (even eliminate the premium, in some cases), and they may also increase or decrease the policy face amount within certain guidelines. UL type policies are “transparent” inasmuch as the main ingredients of life insurance policy premiums – mortality, interest and expense/loading – are identified to the purchaser, individually and collectively. As stated earlier, the savings part of the policy is directly related to the amount of premium paid by the policyowner. Generally, the higher the cash value, the higher the premium. Therefore the mortality protection portion of the policy and the savings element are divisible, and they are “transparent”, as the methods used to determine these aspects are apparent to the policyowner. Like a couple looking at a Corvette and a Minivan – they are both transportation but they serve different purposes. So whether a policy can be divided or is indivisible is simply different ways of looking at the same thing. PO L I C I E S T H A T PA R T I C I PA T E I N C O M PA N Y E X P E R I E N C E – O R N O T Life insurance policies can be segregated into those that allow for variation depending upon the experience of the company or a particular block of business; and those that are engraved in stone. There is also the class of policies that will provide variation depending upon anticipated company or business results. NON-PARTICIPATING POLICIES Some policies provide that the premiums, benefits and cash values are “etched in stone.” These are traditionally called “non-participating” policies as they do not participate in any improvement in mortality or cash values, and the premiums are fixed as long as the policy is in force. Also traditionally, these policies were sold by stock companies as the mutual companies, which are owned by the policyowners, would allow their policyowners/company owners to participate in better than anticipated experience by issuing dividends. Today, stock companies may issue participating policies and mutuals may issue non-participating policies. Since traditional non-participating policies do not share in positive experience from lower-than-expected mortality, higher interest earnings than anticipated, or lower expenses &/or taxes, the policyowner has no way to participate in these favorable results. If the policy does not reflect an increasing economy, lower taxes, etc., policyowners are tempted to exchange their policies for those that do participate. Of course the healthy policyowners are the ones that would be changing, with those who could not change policies because of health reasons, would stay with the non- 13 participating policy. Therefore, the premiums would be insufficient on the existing block of business. Another example of adverse selection PARTICIPATING POLICIES Participating policies allow their policyowners the ability to share i n the increased profits of an insurer because the actual results and experience is better than that assumed in constructing the policy and the premium – hence the name “participating.” Actually, these profits go toward increasing the surplus of the compan y. The company will then declare a “distributable surplus” which will be returned to the policyowners in the form of dividends. For example, if the company is receiving 7% on its investments, and it had used a 5% assumption when determining premiums, the 2% difference may be returned to the policyowner, completely or a portion thereof. It should be noted that a “dividend” in a life insurance policy is very different from a dividend that is declared in other industries when their profit experience is bett er than anticipated. Premiums are usually, not always - but usually, are higher for participating policies as they use very conservative assumptions for mortality, interest and loadings. As a matter-of-fact, the Supreme Court has determined that a “divid end” in these cases is simply a return of premium for tax purposes. Agents representing mutual companies (primarily) have used policy projections when marketing participating policies which show that the dividends more than compensate for the higher premium, and the dividends can allow certain flexibility that non participating policies cannot. This is one reason that stock companies started issuing participating policies) discussed later in this text). DIVIDEND PAYMENT OPTIONS The owner of a participating policy may choose how the dividends are paid-which dividend payment option to choose from among those the insurer offers. Six basic options are discussed in the following paragraphs, but many companies do not offer all six. Cash Dividend Policyowners may choose to take cash dividends. Whenever the insurer pays a dividend, the policyowner receives a check from the insurance company. Premium Reduction The dividends may be used to help pay the next premium. Under the premium reduction option, the amount of the dividend is deducted from the premium so the policyowner pays less the next time a premium is due. Since the amount of the reduction depends upon the amount of the dividend, the normal premium is required when no dividend is paid. 14 Paid -Up Poli cy: By using both dividends and the accrued interest on cash values, the policyowner might be able to have a paid-up policy, i.e., both dividends and interest are used to pay future premiums. This option requires a large policy paying large dividends and earning significant interest. Some policies are purposely written to do just this and the transaction is sometimes termed "vanishing premium” (discussed in detail later in the text). A caution is in order, though, dividends are not guaranteed and if the insurer's experience is much worse than anticipated, the policyowner might have to keep paying premiums. In addition, the premiums required in the first years of the policy are typically higher than policies that do not include this feature. Paid -Up Additi ons: Alternately, dividends could be used to purchase paid -up additions to the policy which are small additional amounts of whole life insurance added to the existing policy without evidence of insurability and with no additional premium required in the future for the additions. This use of dividends is essentially the purchase of small amounts of single-premium cash value life insurance. Accu mulation at In terest : Leaving dividends with the insurance company allows them to accumulate at interest. The accumulated dividends and interest are then added to the death benefit. Therefore, a $100,000 policy, in which dividends which have accumulated at interest, and now totals $2,000, would result in death proceeds of $102,000. While the dividends themselves are not taxable because they're considered a return of excess premium paid by the policyowner, the interest is taxed under this option. One-Year Term Insurance : Dividends may also be used to purchase one-year term insurance. The amount of term insurance that may be purchased is whatever the dividend will buy at the insured's current age, up to the cash value of the policy. If part of the dividend remains after the term purchase, it is usually left with the insurer to accumulate at interest. No proof of insurability is typically required under this option. Remember, not all of these options are available from every insurance company. In addition, while policyowners normally select a dividend option when the policy is issued, they usually may later switch to another option if they wish. CURRENT ASSUMPTION POLICIES The principal difference between “Current Assumption” policies and participating policies is that the participating policies are adjusted according to past experience of the insurance company, while the current assumption policies are adjusted according to anticipated experience of the insurance company. In affect, they discount in advance for expected favorable results. 15 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The earliest life insurance contract was written A. in England. B. by wealthy individuals. C. by the Insurance Company of North America created in 1794. The “human life value” concept A. recognizes the value of slavery. B. states that the probability of loss from automobile accidents is greater than the probability loss from death. C. is a method placing a value on the services of a person’s life. A description of insurance can be reduced to three words: A. fire and casualty. B. life an health. C. sharing of losses. Insurance _______________ risk. A. eliminates. B. transfers. C. increases. Premiums for life insurance A. should reflect a different expectation of loss. B. must be adequate. C. should be lower that competitors. The probability of losses for life insurance comes from A. mortality tables. B. morbidity tables. C. probability tables. 16 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Life insurance companies A. charge more for younger people. B. require premiums be paid in advance. C. charge a premium calculated to cover the pure cost of probabilities only. With a Yearly Renewable Term policy A. the premium remains the same each year. B. provides coverage for a period of one year. C. the policy cannot be renewed if the insured suffers bad health during a premium period. Level premiums A. means the policyowner pays less for the coverage. B. were devised so the insurance company can accept the same premium each year. C. provide for overpayment of premium in the later years. The cash value of a life insurance policy A. comes from the excess premiums charged in early years. B. cannot be withdrawn. C. means there are two policies; 1) death benefit and, 2) cash value. The probability of loss form __________________is higher than any other commonly insured peril. A. fire. B. death. C. earthquake. Life insurance companies rely upon the effects of “the law of large numbers” to A. reduce the speculative element of insurance. B. identify specific individuals that will die in a one-year period. C. estimated losses during a terrorist attack. 17 13. 14. 15. Mortality tables, are not only used by life insurance companies, but also by A. health insurance companies. B. the state department of insurance. C. automobile insurance companies. All life insurance policies require premiums be A. fixed. B. excessive. C. paid in advance. A “participating” life insurance policy A. is adjusted according to anticipate experience of the insurance company. B. pays dividends that are taxed as ordinary income. C. allows the policyowner to share in the increased profits of the insured. Answers to Chapter One Study Questions 1A 2C 3C 4B 5B 6A 7B 8B 9B 18 10A 11B 12A 13B 14C 15C C H A P T E R T WO - T H E I N S U R A N C E C O N T R A C T An insurance policy is a legal contract. While it is different than most contracts that the general public enters into on a regular basis, it is still just a contract, and as such must meet all of the requirements of a legal contract. Basically: For a consideration (the premium), one party (the insurance company) agrees to pay an agreed-upon sum of money (or to provide services set forth in the contract) if a loss that is covered under the contract, occurs. A life insurance “contract” can be confusing, technical and misunderstood to the insured, so it would be easy for an insurer to take advantage of the average insured. Conversely, the policyowners (and claimants) can take advantage of the insurer because they can be aware of physical, moral and adverse-selection problems. The laws of contracts as it pertains to life insurance contracts are specifically developed to eliminate – or at least alleviate – these discrepancies that can lead to serious misunderstandings. In the United States (and in most other countries) life insurance policy forms must be approved by the regulating authority (usually insurance department of the state) and all policies must contain certain “standard provisions” – which are clearly specified in the law. The states usually do not prescribe the exact wording for these standard provisions, but are guidelines that state that the actual wording must be at least as favorable to the policyowner as the standard provisions. The standard provisions generally include The entire-contract clause, The incontestable clause, The grace period, Reinstatement provisions, Non-forfeiture provisions, Policy loans, Annual dividends (if applicable), Misstatement of age, Settlement options, and Deferment of cash value and loan payments. There are many other regulations relating to the insurance policy contract, including identifying all policy forms by numbers, format of the first (cover) page, etc. Most states require that the policies be written in “simplified” format, judged by its readability and ease of understanding. The NAIC provides a model act, Life and Health 19 Insurance Policy Language Simplification Model Act, for insurers to use as a guide in this respect. Courts have rendered decisions throughout the years that bear significantly on the way that provisions are interpreted in life insurance policies. In addi tion, laws have a direct impact on policy provisions, particularly Internal Revenue regulations, civil rights legislation, etc. CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE INSURANCE CONTRACTS The characteristics of life insurance policies that differentiate them from other business contracts should be understood before discussing the contract rules of law. An insurance contract is a contract of good faith – indeed, it is utmost good faith. This means that both parties to the contract can rely upon the good faith of the oth er and therefore cannot deceive or attempt to deceive, or withhold pertinent information from the other party. Simply put, the advantages that each party has over the other, as stated above, are not to be used against the other party. The rule of caveat emptor or let the buyer beware does not apply in insurance contracts. Life insurance contracts are considered as valued contracts, which simply mean that the insurer agrees to pay a certain specified sum of money, regardless of the actual economic loss to the insured. A life insurance policy is not a policy of indemnity as are property and casualty and some health insurance contracts, as the amount of money that will be paid has no relation to the actual financial loss sustained by the insured. This can cause moral hazards to be unknowingly insured because the insureds can recover losses for amounts greater than the economic value of lost income or attendant expenses. Therefore, life insurers carefully consider the economic loss that an insured could suffer in the event of the insured’s death or disability. Life insurance contracts are contracts of adhesion. This means that the terms of the contract are fixed by one party to the contract, and must be accepted or rejected totally (“en totale”) by the other party. This is a very important point, as the courts look upon a life insurance contract as highly specialized and technical, and therefore any ambiguities in the contract will be construed in favor of the policyowner. This is why so many life insurance contract disagreements that go to court are decided in favor of the insured. (This is significant in all insurance policies, not just life insurance. For instance, it applies frequently in liability and homeowner policies.) Life insurance contracts are conditional, as the insurer’s obligation to pay claims are conditioned upon certain acts, such as payment of the premium and proof of death. Life insurance contracts are aleatory in nature, which means that one party can receive more in value than the other party. Therefore there is an element of chance. (As 20 opposed to a commutative contract where each party would receive something of approximately equal value). Life insurance contracts are unilateral in nature as the insurer is the only party that gives a (legally enforceable) promise in the contract. The owner of the contract does not promise to pay the premiums but if they do make the premium payments in a timely manner, then the insurer is fully under the obligation to fulfill its obligation. Incidentally, this can cause some adverse selection as those insureds who need the insurance, are the ones that will make premium payments in a timely manner. ELEMENTS OF A CONTRACT In order for any contract to be valid, there are four requirements as pres cribed by law that must be present: Legally capable The parties to the contract must be legally capable of making a contract. This means that they must have the (legal) capacity to enter into a contract. In the eyes of the law intoxicated persons, mental incompetents, enemy aliens, and others who are not capable, cannot enter into a contract. A minor cannot make a contract, which is usually the age of 18, but in certain states they can contract for necessities such as food and clothing. In the case of an insurance policy, contracts with minors are voidable at the option of the minor except when the minor has contracted for the necessities. In some jurisdictions, minors as young as 15 can contract for insurance. Mutual agreement There must be an agreement that is based on an offer by one party and acceptance of this offer by another party. Life insurance is different in this respect than other contracts; for instance the insured party is usually solicited by an agent who submits the application to the company. There are situations that arise that indicate whether the mutual agreement is in effect. The insurance contract is initiated by either the insured submitting an application with a premium, or by submitting an application without the premium. If no premium is submitted, then it is considered an “invitation” to the insurer to make an offer, and the insurer makes an offer by issuing the policy. The applicant then accepts this offer by paying the premium when they receive the policy. If the premium is paid with the application, then the applicant is considered to have made an offer, however they can withdraw the offer at any time until the policy is issued. Most states hold that there is no contract in force until the policy is issued and delivered and received by the insured. A conditional receipt may be issued, in which case there is some form of temporary coverage given. 21 The “approval conditional premium receipt” provides coverage only after the application has been approved by the insurer. This type of receipt is seldom used because of the short coverage period provided to the applicant and the complaints of applicant therefore. The “insurability conditional receipt” is most frequently used. In effect, with this type of receipt, the insurer is considered to have made an offer. The applicant for the insurance accepts this offer by paying the appropriate premium. The insurance becomes effective on either the date of the conditional receipt, or in some cases, the date of the physical examination with the proviso that the applicant is found to meet the insurer’s underwriting criteria. If the applicant should die before the application and any other information required reaches the home office, and if the applicant had met the underwriting stand ards customarily used by the company, the policy will be considered as issued and the claim would be paid. This type of receipt has been upheld by many courts, but on occasion the courts have felt that the applicant had expected interim coverage for the premiums paid, and therefore they have ruled for the applicant. The third type of frequently used premium receipts is the conditional binding receipt which effectively provides insurance from the date the insurance is written, both immediate and unconditional. Usually the applicant must have answered all the questions on the application satisfactorily and the coverage is provided for a stated fixed time period, or until the insurance company makes a final underwriting determination, whichever comes first. This type of receipt is used for temporary insurance such as travel insurance policies and temporary health policies; however there are a growing number of companies that use binding receipts. One of the reasons for its popularity is that the public is used to binding receipts in their purchase of property and casualty insurance, such as auto and homeowners insurance where the company is “bound” upon completion of the application. EFFECTIVE DATE Usually, the effective date of a policy is the date from which coverage starts, agreed upon by both the insured and the insurer, but there can be complications. A policy may be backdated to “save age.” Since premium is lower at a younger age, this may be allowed if the backdating is not beyond six months – which would otherwise be illegal in many states. This is often used for sales purposes, but it does raise a couple of interesting questions: When is the next premium due? (and) From what date do the incontestable and suicide periods run? Some courts have held that a full year of coverage must be provided for the payment of a full annual premium, although most courts have held that the effective policy date that is shown on the 22 contract, is the date upon which following premiums are due, even though that mi ght mean less than one full year of protection for the first year. For Suicide and Incontestable clauses, which are usually for a period of two years, the accepted rule is that the earlier of the effective date, or the policy date, is the time from which the clause starts. With backdated policies, therefore, the suicide and incontestable clauses could run from the policy date, but if the policy date is later than the effective date, then the clauses run from the effective date. In some cases, a specific date from which these clauses are to run is written into the contract, and in those cases that date would be used. CONSIDERATION For an insurance policy, the consideration is the first premium payment. Legally, subsequent premium payments are “conditions precedent” that must be performed in order to keep the contract effective. In practice, the consideration clause is simple and a typical clause would read: “We have issued this policy in consideration of the representations in your application and payment of the first term premium. A copy of your application is attached and is part of this policy.” CONTRACT FOR LEGAL PURPOSES A contract cannot be used for illegal purposes, including gambling, which are contrary to public policy. Insurance and a wager are distinctly different because the requirement of an insurable interest in the policy removes the policy from any definition of gambling. Besides gambling, any policy that is against public policy is illegal, such as a life insurance policy that is negotiated with the intent to murder. INSURABLE INTEREST A life insurance policy must, by law, be based upon an insurable interest. Of course an individual always has an insurable interest in his/her own life and that of immediate family members because of blood or marriage. Creditor-debtor relationships give rise to insurable interest. The creditor can be the beneficiary for the amount of the outstanding loan with the face value decreasing in proportion to the decline in the outstanding loan amount. Some business relations can also give rise to insurable interest as an employee may insure the life of an employer, or vice versa, as discussed later in respect to key man insurance and other business uses of life insurance. Insurable interest must exist at the inception of the contract, and not necessarily at the time of the loss. For example, if a woman purchases a life insurance policy on the life 23 of her fiancé, she is considered to have an insurable interest. If the relationship sours, as long as she continues to pay the premiums, she will be able to collect the death benefit under the policy. CONSUMER APPLICATION In a frequently quoted case, a child’s aunt (-in-law) named herself as applicant and beneficiary on the purchase of three life insurance policies on her niece, with the intent to murder the child & collect the insurance proceeds. Since the insurers did not ascertain whether an insurable interest existed in this case, the jury awarded the father a $100,000 wrongful-death judgement, which was substantially greater than the face amounts on the policies. Life insurance companies nationally “sat up and took notice” and since that time (1957) great care has been taken to make sure there is always insurable interest. T H E A P PL I C A T I O N The application is considered as the applicant’s proposal to the insurance for coverage and can be considered as the beginning of the insurance contract. Most states require that the application become part of the insurance policy – and if the insurer does not do so, they are estopped (prevented by law) from later denying the correctness or truth of any information on the application. It is extremely important that the application be completed correctly and completely, and rarely does an application with an unanswered question or unintelligible answer will go unnoticed by various employees of the insurance company whose job it is to review applications. CONCEALMENT, MISREPRESENTATION, FRAUD Concealment is the withholding of information of facts that the insurance company should know. As stated earlier, a life insurance contract is a contract of utmost good faith, and the insurance policy depends upon full disclosure of all material information. Whether a fact is material depends upon whether the insurer would have acted as it did by issuing the policy and at the premiums it charged, if they had known the actual facts. Therefore, the general rule about materiality is if the facts had been presented accurately and truthfully to the insurer, would the insurer have denied th e application, charged a higher premium, or issued a policy with limited benefits. The doctrine of warranty requires that the statement be absolutely and literally true. However, since it caused hardship to some insureds as the insurer could void a polic y if the statement were only technically true, regulations were passed that state, in effect (the wording varies widely), that statements made by the insured were representations, and not warranties. Therefore, the doctrine of warranty is not effective to day. A representation is a statement given to an insurance company concerning personal health history, family health history, occupation and hobbies. These statements are required to be substantially correct; that is, applicants must answer questions to the best 24 of their ability. In most cases, representations are construed by the courts very liberally and they need to be only substantially correct. A misrepresentation is when a statement given is incorrect. In most states, a materially false representation makes an insurance policy voidable at the option of the insurance company. Fraudulent intent need not be proven in most jurisdictions. In other jurisdictions, fraudulent intent can automatically make the policy voidable, therefore the definition of intent is important and varies by jurisdiction. An individual who intentionally misrepresents or conceals a material fact, intending to deceive the insurance company in order to gain the benefit of the policy, is guilty of fraud. To be guilty of fraud, there must be intentional misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact, and there must be an intent to deceive in order to receive the benefit. PRESUMPTION OF DEATH A discussion of the contractual application of a life insurance policy would not be complete without a mention of the presumption of death. Because of television and the movies, most people feel that they are at least aware of these laws. The terminology of the life insurance contract states that there must be due proof of the death of the insured before benefits can be paid. This can be particularly difficult if the insured has disappeared and there is no trace of where they are. The basic law is that if a person leaves their place of residence and is neither heard from or seen, o r known to be living, after a period of seven years, the person is presumed to be dead. If an insured disappears for 7 years and the absence is unexplained, then the benefits will be paid. Court cases involving presumption of death usually revolve around whether the absence can be explained. In order to prove that the absence cannot be explained, the beneficiary (who is usually the plaintiff in these cases) attempts to prove that the insured was happy and had no financial problems, and therefore there was no reason for the insured to disappear. The burden of proof falls on the insurer to disprove these facts, and they may attempt to show that the insured was unhappy, financially insolvent, or had a girlfriend not known to his wife (for instance). The remaining question is: when did the insured die? A few jurisdictions hold that the insured died on the last day of the 7-day period. However, if it can be shown that there was some peril involved (tornado, hurricane, etc.) then the court would generally rule that the date of death was the date of the peril, in which case the death benefit plus interest from that date would be paid. What happens when the insured has been gone for more than 7 years and the death benefits have been paid to the beneficiary and the insured shows up again? If the benefits were paid in good faith, the insurance company has the right to recover on the 25 basis that it was simply a mistake in fact. Interestingly, however, if the insurance company did not pay the full death benefit, such as under a settlement agreement (which is quite common in these cases), then the insurance company has no recourse and the beneficiary gets to keep the settlement money that had already been paid. INCONTESTABLE CLAUSE The pertinent policy provision simply states that (except for accidental death and disability premium payment benefits), the insurer cannot contest the policy after it has been in force for two years while the insured is still alive. This clause stems from an old English provision, the “indisputable clause” which was used to counteract the very tough warranty provisions in the policies at that time. This clause was more for public perception in the beginning in the U.S., shortly after the Civil War, but became an “institution” when adopted by the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1879. Its purpose is to remove the worry to the insured and the beneficiary(s) that the life insurance company may not pay. Even if the insured had misrepresented a material fact at time of application, a fter two years the insured may not be around to contest such accusations of the insurer. It limits the time that the insurance company can use the defense of fraud, concealment or material misrepresentation in order to keep from paying benefits. SUICIDE CLAUSE Suicide is covered in the same fashion. It is felt that if a person purchases life insurance in anticipation of suicide, they will commit suicide (usually) within two years, or never at all – and this has held true in most cases. Insurers have always had a difficult time in denying claims because the insured committed suicide, even within two years. CONSUMER APPLICATION About 30 years ago, in Colorado, an insured that, within weeks of the purchase of life insurance, discovered that his wife was sleeping with his brother, went for a walk in a pasture in fresh snow (his were the only tracks). He carried a single-shot, bolt-action 22 caliber rifle. He was found by his brother later in the day with TWO bullet holes in him, one in the chest (obviously the first, which did not kill him) and the second was through the top of his head – coincidentally he had the rifle barrel in his mouth. The court ruled that it was accidental. (An actual case, from files of a Colorado insurer) The typical suicide clause states that the insurer will not pay if the insured commits suicide (while sane or insane) for the first two full years from the original application date. For suicide, they will void the policy and return the premium (less any loans). Also, note the “sane or insane” wording. In practice, some courts have consistently held that an insane person cannot commit suicide because a person must know right from wrong in order to commit suicide, even though the suicide provision included this 26 “sane or insane” wording and the policy form was approved by the state insurance department. Courts will often seek ways of ruling so that dependents can collect benefits. For many years it was widely reported that in the state of Louisiana, which has a very large Catholic population, no life insurance company had ever won a “suicide” case in that state. Catholics believe suicide is a sin and if a Catholic committed suicide, they could not be laid to rest in consecrated ground – causing great suffering to the remaining family members. GRACE PERIOD The Grace Period provision requires the insurance company to accept premium payments for a certain number of days – typically 31 days for life and health policies and 60 (or 61) days for flexible-premium contracts. The insurance company is obligated to accept the premium payment even if it past the due date and they may not require evidence of insurability as a condition to accepting the premium. If the insured dies during the Grace Period, the premium due and interest on the premium due may be withheld from the benefit payment. This provision is for the protection of the policyowner and protects them against unintentional lapse. In some ways, this is treated as “free” insurance as if the policy lapses; the insured is covered for the Grace Period with no additional premium, because if they should die during the Grace Period, benefits would be paid (less due premium). DELAY PROVISION In U.S. life insurance policies only, all policies must contain the Delay Provision. This allows the company the right to defer any cash-value payment or making a policy loan, for a period of up to 6 months after it has been requested. This does not apply to death claims. The purpose of this little-known provision is to protect the insurance company from mass policyowner action draining assets from the company – similar to the runs on the banks during the depression. Mass withdrawals from banks, securities firms and insurers and reinsurers could cause disruptions in the life insurance in dustry, particularly in today’s business atmosphere where there are close affiliations between securities firms and insurers. The delay provision allows time for the insurer to investigate questionable situations and to make financial arrangements if necessary, and further, it provides a cushion from some external event affecting the financial stability of the company. A “run” on an insurer, where policyowners and creditors demand their money all at once, has occurred in the recent past. The two largest U.S. life insurance company failures, Executive Life and Mutual Benefit Life, initiated runs. There have been other 27 runs on smaller insurers. As of this date, these types of runs have been limited to insurers already in financial difficulties, but with the relationship with non-insurance financial institutions, this may change. EXCLUSIONS The two types of exclusions generally used are the war exclusion and the aviation exclusion. Underwriting these risks is considered in the Underwriting section of this text. AVIATION Occasionally, aviation exclusion is added to a policy by the underwriting department, usually in those cases where the pilot is flying experimental or military craft or is not experienced. This is not usually added, as even commercial pilots who fly a lot, can qualify for standard insurance. Usually the insured has the option of paying a higher premium instead of the exclusion. WAR EXCLUSION This exclusion is of interest at this time, so soon after the terrorists attacks (Sept. 2001). This is also described in the Underwriting section of this text from the underwriter’s viewpoint. There are two types of War Exclusions, status type and the results type. Under the status clause the insurance company has the right not to pay the death claim if death results while the insured is in the military, regardless of cause of death. Some insurers exercise this right only if the insured is outside of the “home area,” i.e., outside the United States. The other type, the results clause, the insurer can refuse to pay the death claim only if the death is a result of war activity. There has been a considerable amount of litigation regarding whether a policy provision is of the status or results type, and also what constitutes a war. If the war ag ainst the terrorists continue and there are casualties, it will be interesting to see what stand will be taken by the insurers, especially if there is the anticipated covert action. A lot of litigation can be expected, although it is expected that insurer s will stretch definitions on behalf of the insureds when possible in this situation. BENEFICIARY PROVISION The beneficiary clause in a life insurance policy allows the policyowner to determine who will receive the insurance amount in case of death of the policyowner. Within the guidelines of insurable interest, the policyowner can name just about anyone they 28 choose as the beneficiary. As a side note, in the United Kingdom there is no beneficiary clause, all proceeds are distributed according to the dece dent’s Will. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS PRIMARY BENEFICIARY The person who is named first to receive the proceeds, is called the primary beneficiary and there can be more than one primary – first named does not mean first on the list or first alphabetically, only that the proceeds are paid first to the primary(s). The time between naming the primary beneficiary and the time that the insured dies can stretch into several years and the beneficiary may precede the insured in death. If there were no other beneficiaries named, then the proceeds would go into the estate – not a good situation, as there would be added costs. (See below) CONTINGENT BENEFICIARY The solution to the problem of not having a named beneficiary, is by naming a contingent (or secondary) beneficiary. This simply states that in case the primary beneficiary is not alive to receive the death proceeds of the insured, the proceeds would then go to the person(s) named as contingent beneficiary(s). There can also be more than one contingent beneficiary, and they can be named to receive benefits under a settlement option. Legally, the contingent beneficiary is a tertiary (later) beneficiary and is usually named at the same time that the primary beneficiary is named. Frequently the relationshi p between the insured and the contingent (and the primary) beneficiary is identified, such as “All proceeds under this policy shall be paid to Anna Jean Smith, wife of the named insured, if living; otherwise the proceeds shall be paid to Jack J. Brown, nep hew of the insured.” REVOCABLE BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION A revocable beneficiary designation is a beneficiary designation that allows the policyowner to change beneficiaries at any time without knowledge of or permission of, the beneficiary. This is rather typical, particularly in policies of smaller amounts. With a revocable beneficiary designation, the policyowner is the only one who has an interest in the policy and the beneficiary has no position, other than to expect that the proceeds will be paid to them upon the death of the policyowner. IRREVOCABLE BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION An irrevocable designation cannot be changed without the permission of the beneficiary. This gives the beneficiary significant rights to the policy proceeds, and neither the policyowner nor creditors of the policyowner can change the proceeds distribution without the explicit and written approval of the beneficiary. 29 This is almost the same as joint ownership, except that many policies specify that only the policyowner can withdraw cash values, make policy loans, or take other actions of this type. NAMING THE BENEFICIARY A person can name children as beneficiaries. Rather than naming each child individually, parents may name children as a class; for example: "Shared equally amon g all children born from the marriage of the insured to J. B. Ashe, including adopted children." In this case, the class designation ensures that any children born after the policy is issued will benefit. The class designation also avoids confusion if a child dies before the insured and the insured fails to change the designation. It is not necessary to name only children as a class, for instance all “siblings” can be named, and quite commonly, “All grandchildren of the insured.” Sometimes insureds name their estates as the beneficiary. This is the least favorable type of beneficiary designation because if the policy proceeds go into the estate, they increase the size of the estate, which could in turn increase estate taxes that become due when the insured dies. In addition, if the insured failed to leave a will, the executor of the estate would have no way of knowing how the insured really wanted the policy proceeds distributed. Even if a will existed, indicating how to distribute proceeds, probate court actions can take months to complete. Life insurance proceeds that go into an estate are also more vulnerable to attachment from the deceased person's creditors. When two or more individuals are named as primary or contingency beneficiaries, one or more might die before the insured, raising questions about how the policy proceeds should be divided among the living beneficiaries. There are two different methods of beneficiary designation that can be used to alleviate this situation. PER CAPITA A per capita designation is used to indicate that any remaining beneficiaries share all of the proceeds equally. The legal term per capita, derived from Latin, literally means "by heads" and is translated to refer to "each person." For example, suppose the insured names his four sisters to share equally as primary beneficiaries of his $100,000 policy. If all four are living when the insured dies, each person receives $25,000. But suppose two of the sisters die before the insured. When the insured dies, each person still living receives $50,000-the two remaining sisters in this example. PER STIRPES A different arrangement applies under a per stirpes designation. Per stirpes, literally, "by branches," legally refers to a progression through the branch of a particular family member. For the situation described in the preceding paragraph, the following would transpire with a per stirpes designation. The two living sisters would receive $25,000 each as originally planned. But the remaining two shares of $25,000 each would pass on to the heirs of each of the deceased sisters, to each 30 sister's "branch" of the family, so to speak, rather than being divided between the two living sisters. MINORS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES As a general rule, children are not recognized as compet ent to handle financial transactions. If an insured insists on naming minors, the insurer might require that a trust be established to hold the policy proceeds until the minors are adults. Alternately, the insurer could arrange to hold the proceeds, pay i nterest, and disburse the proceeds plus interest when the minors reach adulthood. Spendthrift Clause or Spendthrift Trust A spendthrift clause included in some life insurance policies is intended to protect policy proceeds from creditors by establishing a trust to receive the death benefit. Under this arrangement, the policy proceeds are paid out as periodic income rather than in a lump sum. The payout could be arranged as a fixed payment for as long as the money lasts or for a fixed period of time. The proceeds are then usually protected from creditors until the terms of the trust have been fulfilled. While this is the intent, the extent of the protection varies from state to state. While some state laws protect the entire death benefit as long as it is paid in installments, others allow only a portion of each fixed payment to the beneficiary to be protected by a spendthrift trust. For example, the law might require that if the beneficiary receives more than "X" number of dollars per month under the trus t, creditors may pursue any additional amounts. In still other states, the income is protected only while it is in the insurer's possession; after a payment is made to the beneficiary, the money is no longer protected. Uniform Simultaneous Death Act The unhappy possibility of family members dying at the same time or nearly at the same time can cause complications in beneficiary designations. Since it is fairly common for a spouse and/or children to be named as beneficiaries, what happens, for example, if the insured and her husband, the primary beneficiary, are killed in the same accident? CONSUMER APPLICATION Angela is the insured under a whole life insurance policy. Her husband Dominic is the primary beneficiary. The couple has no children. Angel a's sister Stephanie is the contingent beneficiary. Angela and Dominic are involved in an automobile accident; both are pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital. The question arises: Did Angela die first, making the policy proceeds payable to Dom inic, or did Dominic die first, making the proceeds from Angela's policy payable to Stephanie? If Dominic lived longer than Angela, the policy proceeds would be paid into his estate and distributed according to his will. If Dominic as the primary benefici ary, died before Angela, Stephanie would receive the proceeds as the contingent beneficiary. Recognizing the problem, most states have adopted the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, which assumes that the primary beneficiary died before the insured. As a res ult, 31 the policy proceeds are paid to the contingent beneficiary. This is true only when there is no evidence that the primary beneficiary did, in fact, outlive the insured. Using the above Consumer Application, if the emergency personnel who accompanied Dominic in the ambulance attested that he had vital signs up to the time they arrived at the hospital. Conversely, no one in the ambulance with Angela believed she was alive during the trip to the hospital. In this case, there is evidence that Dominic did outlive Angela, so the policy proceeds would be paid into his estate rather than going to the contingent beneficiary, Stephanie. Common Disaster Provision Another way to mitigate the problem is by including a common disaster provision in the beneficiary designation. A typical provision would stipulate that in situations where there is serious injury to both the insured and the primary beneficiary in a single event, the policy proceeds are held in trust for a specified period of time, often from one to three months. If the primary beneficiary is alive after the specified period expires, the primary beneficiary receives the death benefit. Otherwise, proceeds go to the contingent beneficiary. This provision might also be called a survival clause or simil ar term. Still another option is to arrange the policy so proceeds are paid as periodic income to the primary beneficiary as long as he or she lives. Upon the primary beneficiary's death, the remaining policy proceeds are paid to the contingent beneficiar y. Insurers will work closely with insureds to see that the designation is worded to provide protection for the beneficiaries as precisely as the insured desires. NON-FORFEITURE PROVISION The non-forfeiture provision is applicable only to life insurance policies with cash values (although there are other types of insurance that may have this provision, such as some Long Term Care Insurance policies). This provision outlines the options that are available for the insured to collect the cash value if the p olicy is terminated. It also explains the method that is used to determine these options. “Non-forfeiture” gets its name, as, historically, early insurance policies had no cash values, so any excess premium paid after mortality and expense charges were d educted, was “forfeited.” This is not allowed in the United States and insurers must comply with the Standard Non-forfeiture Laws that also require the policy to state what mortality table is used and the interest rate in calculating the non-forfeiture values. A table in each cash-value policy is required which shows the cash surrender values and other non-forfeiture options for the first 20 years. (Non-forfeiture options are discussed later in the text) These laws set forth the situations under which a life insurance policy must have nonforfeiture values and they also stipulate the minimum required values and effectively, require that all policies that collect more than mortality and expense charges, provide non-forfeiture values. It should also be pointed out that the stated interest rate for non- 32 forfeiture values is not the “rate of return” of the policy. Universal Life and Current Assumption Life policies are different, as cash values are derived using the so -called retrospective approach. The differences between the prospective method of determining cash values for traditional policies, and the retrospective method used for UL and Current Assumption products, is quite technical and beyond the scope of this text. It is mentioned here as a note of interest. When actuaries were trying to develop an insurance policy wherein the cash value accumulation could compete with other non -insurance products, the Standard Non-forfeiture Laws would always prove to be a major stumbling block. Finally, at an international reinsurance meeting in Monte Carlo, through the genius of American actuaries and a German actuary meeting privately, this retrospective method was developed, and the Universal Life insurance policy was “invented.” NON-FORFEITURE OPTIONS Since the cash value in the policy belongs to the policyowner, they will not be forfeited even if the policyowner is not able to pay the premiums. Therefore, the policy offers options as to how the policyowner can receive the cash values. CASH SURRENDER The policyowner may receive the cash surrender value of the policy. This involves withdrawing the entire cash value and surrendering or terminating the policy. The insurance company deducts any outstanding loans, interest on loans and unpaid premium before paying the cash value to the policyowner. Cash value policies include tables showing the cash surrender value for every year the policy is in force which is the basis for the amount due the policyowner. However, Universal life policies have only a minimum cash value guarantee and a variable policy has no guarantee at all. These policies might include an illustration of potential cash values based upon assumed rates, but, unlike the tables in traditional policies, there is no guarantee that those potential values will be available at any given time. PAID-UP INSURANCE Another non-forfeiture option is to use the cash value to buy paid-up insurance. This provides a reduced amount cash value life insurance for which the policyowner never pays another premium. The paid-up policy is the same type of insurance as the basic policy from which the cash value is being used. No riders or other provisions added to the original policy are included. Cash values accumulate in the paid -up policy and the policy earns interest. If the original was a participating policy, the paid -up policy will also earn dividends. The amount of the death benefit for the paid-up policy depends upon how much coverage the cash value will buy. Any outstanding loans and interest are deducted first and the insured’s attained age is used to determine the cost. Administrative expenses will be small because it costs insurers very little to provide a paid -up policy from cash values. 33 EXTENDED TERM INSURANCE The policyowner may use cash values to purchase extended term insurance. In this case, the death benefit is the same as the original policy (unless a loan is outstanding) and the "extended term" is the number of years and days of coverage that can be purchased with the available cash value at the insured's attained age. Policies that have guaranteed cash values include a table showing how long the term will be, based upon these factors. If there is an unpaid policy loan, the insurance company deducts the amount of the loan and any interest due from both the cash value and the death benefit amount before determining the length of the extended term. For example, if the original policy has a $100,000 death benefit, a cash value of $20,000 and an outstanding loan with interest of $5,575, then the death benefit of the extended term policy will be $94,425 and the cash value used to purchase the policy will be $14,425. The outstanding amounts are deducted from both the cash value and the death benefit to protect the insurance company. If the insured should die soon after opting for the extended term insurance and before repaying the policy loan, the insurer would have lost the loan amount completely since there is no longer any cash value as collateral. If a policyowner simply stops paying premiums and does not choose a non-forfeiture option, insurers automatically set up the extended term insurance unless the policy also includes the automatic premium loan provision described earlier. This non-forfeiture option provides the most insurance protection for the cash value available. STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 2 1. 2. A life insurance policy A. is not a contract because it is regulated by the department of insurance. B. is not subject to judicial review. C. forms must be approved by the state department of insurance. The rule “caveat emptor“ or “let the buyer beware” A. does not apply in insurance contracts. B. means the party to an insurance contract can trust the other party. C. applies to all contracts, including life insurance contracts. 34 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. A life insurance contract is conditional A. on the insurance company’s ability to pay a claim. B. on the payment of premiums by the insured. C. upon the insured answering questions on the application truefully. The incontestable clause in a life insurance contract A. allows the insurance company the right to refuse paying a claim due to the suicide of the insured. B. limits the time an insurance company can refuse to pay a claim. C. prevents the insurance company from denying a claim even if the insured stops paying the premiums. An insurable interest A. must exist at the inception of the contract. B. does not exist in an employment relationship. C. a husband may have in the life of his wife ends when they divorce. The application for a life insurance policy A. is the insurance company’s offer to insure an individual. B. becomes part of the insurance policy. C. is a formality and of no consequences. An insurance company A. does not have to accept a premium if it is late. B. will not pay a claim if the insured dies within the grace period and the premium was not paid. C. is required to accept the premium payment, even if it’s past due, within 31 days. The primary beneficiary A. can not be changed without the consent of the beneficiary. B. is the same as the contingent beneficiary. C. is the person who is named first to receive the death proceeds. 35 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. If a life insurance policyowner names his/her estate as beneficiary the A. size of the estate increases. B. proceeds avoid probate. C. insured’s creditor cannot get to the proceeds. Per Capita is a beneficiary designation that A. refers to a progression through the branch of a particular family member. B. is used to indicate that any remaining beneficiaries share all of the proceeds equally. C. means the beneficiary can borrow against the policy. Life insurance contracts are considered as “valued” contracts which means A. it is an indemnity contract. B. one party can receive more in value than the other party. C. the insurance agrees to pay a certain sum of money, regardless of the actual economic loss to the insured. A life insurance contract A. requires the parties to be legally capable of making a contract. B. can be amended and changed by the insured. C. is “unilateral“ in nature, which means the owner must pay (legally enforceable) the premiums. Usually the effective date of a life insurance policy is A. the date the insured died. B. when the application is signed. C. the date from which coverage starts. Statements made by an applicant are considered A. outside the life insurance contract. B. representations. C. warrantees. 36 15. When a life insurance policy names an insured, that has disappeared A. for 10 years or more, they are presumed dead, and the insurer must pay the beneficiary. B. the insurance company does not have to pay because there is no proof of death. C. for a period of seven years, the benefits will be paid. Answers to Chapter Two Study Questions 1C 2A 3B 4B 5A 6B 7C 8C 9A 37 10B 11C 12A 13C 14B 15C CHAPTER THREE – THE INSURANCE CONTRACT II SETTLEMENT OPTIONS The insured or the beneficiary determines how the death benefit(s) will be paid, using a “Settlement Option.” Most companies offer all of the options presented in this section. Even though most companies are quite liberal in allowing arrangements not specifically mentioned in the policy, nearly all companies are more liberal at providing settlement options while the insured is still alive. The policyowner can give as much or as little authority in determining settlement options as they want, with the beneficiary having no rights to change the option. Or they could set up a settlement option arrangement that would allow the beneficiary to receive the funds in any fashion they so desire. Insurance companies usually work with the beneficiaries to arrive at a mutually-satisfactory arrangement. LUMP SUM Death benefits may be paid in one lump sum, which is how about 90% of all policy proceeds are paid. If neither the policyowner nor the beneficiary selects a different option, the insurer will always make a lump-sum payment of the face amount of the policy (minus any outstanding loans, interest or unpaid premiums currently due). INTEREST ONLY Many policies provide for interest to be paid from date of death, even if a settlement option has not been elected. The interest option allows flexibility as it permits adjustments to be made because of changing economic conditions. Owners or beneficiaries might opt to have the insurer pay interest only, at least for some period of time, in which case the face amount of the death benefit, or the principal, is left with the insurer to be invested and earn interest. The interest is paid to the beneficiary periodically - monthly, quarterly, twice a year or once a year. The policyowner may stipulate the frequency, which the beneficiary may change if they so wish. Many policies written with the interest only settlement option also provide that the beneficiary may withdraw all or part of the principal amount at some point. Such a provision can be written many ways, limiting the number of withdrawals per year for example. Other options might limit the amount that may be withdrawn at any one time or within a certain time period, or specifying that all may be withdrawn after a certain length of time. A Spendthrift clause can be used to protect the beneficiary from creditors, if specified in the policy. Policies may also be written so the beneficiary may not withdraw any of the principal. This brings up the question of what happens to the principal amount if the beneficiary dies. There are two possibilities: 38 1. The principal is paid to the estate of the now deceased beneficiary. 2. The principal is paid to any contingent beneficiar y of the original insured. The first possibility is more typical. Since the money belongs to the primary beneficiary, now deceased, it goes into his or her estate if no alternate arrangement was made when the beneficiaries were designated. The second possibility occurs only if the eventuality had been pre-arranged at time of policy issue or prior to the death of the insured. The original arrangement might have been that the contingent beneficiary also receives interest only, rather than the principal amount. But, unless specified otherwise, at this point the principal would be paid in a lump sum either to the primary beneficiary's estate or to the contingent beneficiary. FIXED AMOUNT The fixed-amount settlement option permits the death benefit to be d istributed in more than one payment of a fixed amount that is either originally specified by the policyowner or selected by the beneficiary. It is in fact, an annuity certain but the income amount is fixed, rather than the time period (Fixed -period Option, described below). The payment might be made annually, semi annually, quarterly or monthly. For example, the beneficiary could receive $2,500 per month for as long as the money lasts. The portion of the death benefit not yet paid draws interest while th e insurer controls it. Because of the interest earnings, the final payout will be greater than the original death benefit amount. Dividend accumulations, additions payable or additional death proceeds, combined with excess interest earned while installmen ts are being paid, will increase the length of time the benefits will be paid, but do not affect the amount of each installment. The fixed-amount option has more advantages than fixed-period options because they have more flexibility. Policyowners can vary the amount of income at different times, and beneficiaries can withdraw all or part of the benefit; or the beneficiaries may have the right to withdraw up to a certain sum in any one year. FIXED PERIOD Rather than a fixed amount, benefits might be paid for a fixed period. It is an annuity certain over a defined period of months or years (usually not longer than 25 or 30 years). If an insured wants to be certain the beneficiary has at least some income for a certain period of time, this is better than the fixed amount option. Interest is paid on the retained principal. The amount of each payment depends upon the original death benefit amount, interest earned on the decreasing principal, the length of the fixed period and the frequency of each payment. Most companies permit policyowners to give the beneficiary the right to receive the present value or all remaining installment payments in one lump sum. This is called the right to commute. 39 Any accumulations of dividends, paid-up additions, or other additional death benefit payments, increase the income to the beneficiary but the number of installments stays constant. LIFE INCOME The life income option pays the death benefit in such a way that the beneficiaries receive an income for the rest of their lives. This option involves the purchase of an annuity contract designed to provide lifetime income. (Annuities pay an periodic income benefit over a specified period of time.) It is not necessary to go into the various types of annuities, but the ones used for settlement options are immediate annuities in most cases – this means that the amount to be distributed will be paid “up front,” in one lump sum. The primary advantage of this option is the guaranteed lifetime income. Whether or not that income is plentiful or even adequate, depends upon the amount of the death benefit and the age and sex of the beneficiary, using the "rules" under which annuities are established. For example, since women as a group live longer than men, if the beneficiary is a woman, she will receive a smaller periodic income than a male beneficiary. Using annuity tables, the insurer establishes the schedule of payments. There are other considerations as well, since a life income annuity option might be set up to benefit more than one person. As an example, the beneficiary might be a husband and two adult children, with the payments continuing to the children after the husband/father dies. In this case, each individual's portion of the income would be smaller. CASH/INSTALLMENT REFUND ANNUITY The refund life income option may either be a cash refund option or installment refund annuity. Both guarantee the return of an amount equal to the principal sum, less the total payments that have already been made. As the names would indica te, the difference is that under the cash refund option, there is one lump sum settlement made. Under the installment refund option, payments are made in installments. LIFE INCOME OPTION WITH PERIOD CERTAIN This is the most popular of the options. It will pay the benefits in installments as long as the primary beneficiary lives. If the primary beneficiary dies before a pre determined period (period certain) of time, then the installments will continue to be paid to the contingent or secondary beneficiary, until the end of that time. CONSUMER APPLICATION Jennie was the primary beneficiary under Al’s life insurance policy and their granddaughter Marie was the contingent beneficiary. Al elected the life income option with period certain of 20 years, so that if after he died, Jennie could be taken care of properly for 20 years, if she lives that long. If she didn’t, then Marie would have some money to pay for college or other uses, depending upon her age at the time.(Cont.) 40 When Al died, the policy benefits allowed a monthly payment of $2500 a month for 20 years to Jennie, who lived for another 5 years. Marie would then receive $2500 a month for 15 years. Under this type of Settlement Option, the longer the guarantee period, the less the monthly proceeds and the older the beneficiary, the greater the life income. The problem with this type of option is that the amount of income that the beneficiary will receive cannot be determined prior to the death of the insured as it depends entirely upon the beneficiary’s age. JOINT AND SURVIVORSHIP OPTION Under the joint and survivorship option, the payments are paid for life as long as one of two beneficiaries is alive (actually the beneficiaries are annuitants, as for all income options). Depending upon how it is written, this option annuity may continue payments in full, or some fraction thereof after the death of the first annuitant – usually 2/3 or ½ payments (joint and two-thirds, or joint and one-half). The period certain for this type of option can be 10 t o 20 years. This is useful in providing for a retirement income for a husband and wife. Actually, the proceeds of a matured endowment policy (yes, there are some old ones around) or annuity, or the cash value of any policy can be applied under this option. OTHER OPTIONS Some companies allow other types of options to suit a particular need. Educational Option This type of option provides a fixed income during the 9 or 10 months of each college term, with the remainder provided at graduation. Flexible Spending Account The flexible spending account operates much like a bank account. Proceeds are paid into an account, which draws interest, and the beneficiary can draft the account for part or all of the funds, as they desire. Many companies use this option automatically instead of a lump sum, as it gives the beneficiary time to determine what they want to do with the money. Usually there is a minimum amount of $10,000 required. Individualized Options Insurers are very flexible in working with the insured and with the beneficiaries, so that they all are happy. However, the insurance company will not accept any arrangement where it has to exercise its own discretion in fulfilling the terms of the arrangement. ASSIGNMENTS Insurance is “property” - legally and technically - and therefore any ownership rights in a policy can be transferred by the policyowner to another party. The term for this tranfer is “assignment.” There has been considerable interest in assignments of policies 41 recently, principally for “viatical settlements” which has become popular because of AIDS – some 90 percent of viatical settlements cover AIDS victims. There are two types of assignment, absolute and collateral. ABSOLUTE ASSIGNMENT As the word would indicate, absolute assignment is the transfer by the policyowner of all rights in the policy to another person. Absolute assignment is often used as a gift, as it is a non-taxable gift and an excellent choice for personal and for tax reasons. Ocassionally, and more so now than in previous years, a life insurance policy is sold for a valuable consideration – usually cash. In business insurance, a policy that is owned by a corporation (key man insurance) may be sold for an amount equal to its cash value upon termination of employment. This is usually accomplished using an absolute assignment. As stated earlier, an irrevocable beneficiary must consent to an assignment of the policy, as they are in effect, a co-owner. The question has arisen as to whether an assignment changes the beneficiary, and the courts are split on this point. It can be a moot point, as the new policy owner can change the beneficiary by following the company procedures for doing so. The most common use of an absolute assignment is viatical settlements, as describ ed below: VIATICAL SETTLEMENTS The outbreak of AIDS in the United States created Viatical Settlements as the life expectancy of an AIDS patient is relatively short, they face large medical and hospital bills, and many are not able to work. Many of the AID S patients had (have) life insurance policies on their own life, so in order to get money NOW, they were (are) willing to sell these policies for a percentage of the face amount. Individuals, insurance agents and financial planners generally bring poten tial policy sellers to a viatical firm, which can be a specialized company or a group of investors, willing to purchase life insurance on the terminally ill. The firm makes an offer to the policyowner which depends on the face amount and the insured’s li fe expectancy, taking into consideration future premium payments, outstanding policy loans and the present interest rates. Any life insurance policy can be used, but the firm will require certification from a physician that the individual’s condition can reasonably be expected to result in death within a certain time period. If both sides agree, the policy is transfered, using an absolute assignment. The firm then names itself as beneficiary, and when the insured dies, it collects the policy proceeds. (Continued on next page) 42 The NAIC has enacted the Viatical Settlements Model Act in anticipation and concern over possible abuse, which makes the viatical settlement f irm disclose to the person who sells their policy (the viator ) certain facts on the transaction, such as eligibility for government benefits, tax implications, the right to rescind, and alternatives (some companies have accelerated death benefits where th e insured can receive the present value – or close to it – of the policy benefits). The proceeds of the viatical settlement are tax free if the viator meets the definition of being terminally ill – the individual must be certified by a physician as having an illness or physical condition that can reasonably be expected to result in death within 24 months or less. Viatical settlements are subject to the “Transfer for Value” rule for tax purposes, as discussed later in the Taxation section of this text. COLLATERAL ASSIGNMENT Since insurance is property, a collateral assignment is a temporary transfer of only some of the property – policy ownership rights – to another person and are usually used for loans from lending institutions. The American Bankers Asso ciation Collateral Assignment Form 10 is usually used for this purpose. The lending institution can collect the proceeds at maturity, surrender the policy and obtain policy loans, receive dividends, and exercise the non-forfeiture rights. The policyowner, on the other hand, can collect any disability benefits, change the beneficiary (but subject to the assignment) and election settlement options (again, subject to the assignment). The assignee (the lender usually) agrees to pay the beneficiary any pr oceeds that are in excess of the policyowner’s debt, not to surrender or obtain a loan from the insurance company unless there is a default in premium payments (or default on the debt), and to forward the policy to the insurance company for any change of b eneficiary or change in settlement options. POLICY LOANS COLLATERAL The cash value of a life insurance policy serves as collateral for a policy loan in the same way a house serves as collateral for a mortgage loan. Therefore, in order to borrow $1,000, there must be at least that much cash value in the policy. Actually, there must be slightly more because, typically, a 100% loan is prohibited in order to protect the insurance company. The policyowner could borrow nearly 100% of the cash value, but a small portion would be deducted, equal to one year's interest. For example, if the policyowner wants to borrow the full cash value of $1,000 and the interest rate for the loan is 8%, the insurer will keep 8% of $1,000 or $80 and lend the balance of $920. 43 As described in a later section, Variable life policies typically restrict the amount that may be borrowed to 90% of the value of the separate account. INTEREST The low interest rate traditionally charged for policy loans is one of the features that has made such loans attractive, with a 4% to 6% fixed rate being common in the past. With the overall interest rates at the lowest in many years, it is still attractive, provided the insurers keep their interest rates “in the ball-park” of other commercial loans. In any event, they will probably always be much lower than credit card loans (debt) and that would make these very attractive to many of today’s consumers. Variable interest rates are also available, tied to a financial indicator such as the rate on U.S. Treasury bills or Moody's long-term bond rate. When a variable rate applies, the policy specifies when the insurer will adjust the rate, such as on the first day of each calendar quarter. DIRECT RECOGNITION Direct recognition is the immediate consideration of present interest rates, mortality experience, and expenses in premiums currently charged. This is critical to the formulation of Current Assumption Whole Life and Universal Life products. Under the Direct Recognition principle, a policy loan can hav e a significant negative impact on dividends paid under participating policies. When determining the dividend to be paid on a particular policy, companies that use direct recognition take into account the interest rate the insurer earns on the loan and th e dividend interest rate the company has assumed it would have earned on the cash value if part of it had not been borrowed. The difference reduces the dividend. CONSUMER APPLICATION A policyowner has an outstanding policy loan of $5,000, for which he is paying 7% interest. The insurer assumes a dividend interest rate of 10%. The dividend that is due to be paid is $500. Since the $5,000 loaned to the policyowner is not available to earn the assumed rate of 10%, the insurer earns only the 7% interest paid by the borrower-3% less than assumed. Three percent of $5,000 is $150, so this $150 is subtracted from the dividend paid. Instead of receiving the full $500 dividend, this policyowner receives only $350 because of the outstanding loan. Insurers believe direct recognition is a fairer proposition for all policyowners because it rewards those who do not borrow money. Under this arrangement, non -borrowers "earn" the higher dividend because all cash value is left with the insurer for earning purposes. Borrowers receive a smaller dividend because not all of their cash value is available to the insurer to earn interest. 44 INTEREST PAID ON BORROWED VALUES As detailed later in this text, for universal and variable life policies, insurers might pay a lower interest rate on the borrowed portion of cash value that is serving as collateral for a loan. That is, the typically higher current interest rate is paid on cash values that are not collateral and a lower rate, often the guaranteed rate, is paid on the portion borrowed. Additionally, universal life policy loans might be "wash loans" with the interest charged on the loan canceling out the interest paid on the cash value that serves as collateral. Policies other than universal and variable life also have arrangeme nts for paying a lower rate on loaned cash values. Some companies, for example, pay 1 % less on the loaned values than on the remainder of the cash value. LOAN REPAYMENT Because borrowing cash values represents a loan, repayment is expected, even though the loan need never be repaid. The policyowner may continue paying interest on the loan indefinitely. The negative consequences for not repaying loans from cash values include: Reduction of the death benefit by the amount of the loan and any interest due if the insured dies with the loan outstanding. Reduction of the surrender value if the policyowner wants to terminate the policy and take the entire cash value. Effect on dividend payments in par policies, described previously. Reduction of interest earned, described previously. Potential depletion of values, (causing:) Lapse of universal or variable policies. If a policy is about to lapse because of outstanding loans and/or interest due, the insurance company must notify the policyowner in time to repay th e loan or make premium payments to keep the policy in force. REINSTATEMENT CLAUSE The reinstatement clause allows the policyowner to reinstate a policy that had lapsed, under certain requirements. The most important requirement is to furnish evidence of insurability and pay past-due premiums. “Evidence of Insurability” is required by the company to prevent adverse selection. Otherwise, it would be common for an individual to allow a policy to lapse, and then discover that it would be for their benefit to keep the policy in force (they have just been diagnosed with a fatal disease, for example). The insured is required to furnish evidence of insurability that is satisfactory to the company. While good health is the usual requirement, the company may also require information on the travels of the insured, occupation, financial condition, etc. An example frequently used is of an 45 insured that is in prison and sentenced to the gas chamber. He might be in good health now… What is interesting about this provision is its relationship to the incontestable clause. If a policy is reinstated, what happens? Does the incontestable period start all over again? While laws are really not very clear on this matter, the general practice is that the incontestable clause is also reinstated, making the policy contestable again but only to statements made in the reinstatement application. While other jurisdictions state that the original incontestable clause is still in effect (period dated from policy date), there are a few jurisdictions that take the view that the reinstatement (itself) is a separate contract that has no incontestable period. Fair? Hardly, because this also means that the policy can be contested for fraud at any time. For the Suicide Clause, courts have been almost unanimous in holding that the suicide clause does not run again. In respect to past-due premiums, there is a legitimate argument that there should be no premiums due for past mortality charges as no coverage was provided during the lapse period. Therefore, some jurisdictions limit the past-due premium to the increase in reserves between the time of lapse and reinstatement. Incidentally, reinstatement is not permitted if the policy has been surrendered (or continued as extended term insurance) and the full term of the policy has expired. If the extended term portion has not expired, most companies will reinstate the policy with little or no evidence of insurability. Regardless, reinstatement seldom is allowed if more than 5 years has elapsed since the policy lapsed. MISSTATEMENT OF AGE Policies are required in most jurisdictions to have a misstatement of age provision which simply states that if the insured’s age is found to have been misstated, the amount of insurance will be adjusted to be that which would have been purchased by the premium paid, if the correct age were known. If the misstatement is determined when the policy is in force, and if the age is understated, usually the insured has the option to pay the difference in prem ium with interest or having the policy reissued at the proper amount to match the premium. If the age is overstated, a refund is usually made by paying the difference in reserves. The same rules hold if there is a misstatement of sex – not a usual situation, but it could happen through error in transcribing. This provision appears in policies so that a misstatement of age cannot be considered a misrepresentation and thus be used to void the policy. 46 RENEWAL PROVISIONS Life insurance policies can be continued by payment of premiums in a timely manner and for the length of time contracted. Most individual life insurance policies stipulate the guaranteed maximum premium that can be charged by the insurer. In other types of insurance there are differing types of renewal rights, such as non-cancellable, guaranteed renewable, and conditionally renewable. As important as these are in health insurance, they have little, if any, application in life insurance. O PT I O N A L R I D E R S / B E N E FI T S The Riders discusseds in this section are optional, however, if underwriting requires a rider to be attached to a policy, the policyowner would be advised in advance. Some Riders are mandated by law. Riders are even used for substandard risks, as anytime that the premium is increased for underwriting purposes, the insured is informed by a Rider so stating. These types of Riders are not discussed in this section as they are not “typical” riders. WAIVER OF PREMIUM The waiver of premium rider allows the policy to continue without further premium payments if the insured becomes disabled and cannot work. In essence, the insurer takes over the premium payments. The key to this rider is understanding what the insurer means by disability. Total disability is the inability of the insured to perform any and all important daily duties of that insured’s occupation. Most companies require 6 months of continuous disability before the waiver of premium (WP) provision applies. A disability is covered if it begins prior to age 65 (usually) and will continue as long as the insured continues to be disabled. WP is not a continuance of premium, but is a benefit for which there is a premium. Therefore dividends continue (if participating policy), cash values continue to increase, and loans may be obtained. Actually, it is a benefit that pays an amount exactly equal to the premiums when the insured becomes disabled. Benefits will not be paid if the disability results from: • Commission of a crime by the insured. • War or other military action. • Self-inflicted injury. There are 3 different provisions regarding WP riders on Term policies when conversion is involved to a permanent plan: 47 1. If the insured is totally disabled, the term policy premiums will be waived, but if the policy is converted, the premiums will not be converted on the new permanent policy. 2. Some companies will honor the waiver of premium on the new permanent policy. 3. Some companies provide for a waiver of premium on both the term policy and the permanent policy, provided the conversion occurs at the end of the automatic conversion period (when the new permanent policy automatically goes into force, and premiums on the new policy are waived). Payor Rider The Payor Rider is a form of Waiver of Premium, and is usually written on po licies insuring children, or when another person pays the premiums. With the payor rider, if the person paying the premiums either becomes disabled (under the same conditions described for the waiver of premium rider) or dies, premiums are waived. Disabil ity or death must occur before the child reaches a certain age, usually 21 or 25. Some payor riders, instead of waiving the premiums for disability, do so only if the payor dies. Payor riders generally require a medical history and exam for the person who is paying the premiums since it is this person's health, not the insured child's health, that could activate the waiver. Premium Waiver and Universal Life When the waiver of premium rider is attached to a universal life policy, the rider works differently than with whole life or term. The usual approach is that the insurer waives only the portion of the premium payment that actually pays for the insurance protection, the mortality charge. Some insurers do offer a universal life waiver of premium rider that calls for the insurance company to pay the entire premium. This is obviously advantageous since cash values can continue to grow as originally anticipated. The amount the company pays is limited to the planned premium established when the policy was issued. Accidental Death The Accidental Death Rider (also known as “Double Indemnity), when added to a life insurance policy, provides that double (or triple) the face amount of the policy, will be paid if the insured’s death is the result of an accident. Philosophically or financially, there is no reason that a person that dies from an accident should receive so much more insurance benefit, than one who died of disease. The popularity is principally because it is relatively inexpensive, and many people just “feel” that they will die from an accident (actually, less than 10% of all deaths are the result of an accident). If there were no Double Indemnity provisions, think of all of the murder mysteries that would not have been written… Accidental Death is typically defined in a policy as “death resulting from bodily injury effected solely through external, violent, and accidental means, independently and exclusively of all other causes, with death incurring within 90 days after such injury.” 48 The accident must be the sole cause of death, and if other factors contributed to the death, in addition to the accident, the rider does not apply. Both the “cause” and the “result” of the death must be accidental. Death must occur no more than 90 days (or three months) after the accident or, under some riders, 120 days. Some courts have held that the 90 day period does not have to be strictly applied. Accidental death coverage usually expires at age 65 (or 70). Premiums are based upon age at issue (usually 5-year banded). Certain exclusions apply (three are the same as for the WP Rider, plus the following): Death from an accident accompanied by illness, disease or mental illness. Death from aviation accidents except when the insured was a paying passenger on a common carrier. Death by accident while the insured was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Death resulting from circumstances that do not appear to be accidental - an exclusion that might require legal action to prove or disprove accidental death. Insurers list the circumstances that apply. Accidental Death and Dismemberment Some companies offer an accidental death and dismemberment rider which has the same features as the accidental death rider, plus a benefit paid if the insured suffers accidental dismemberment of specified parts of the body, rather than death. The rider usually applies to loss of eyesight and loss of members such as arms, legs, hands and feet. A typical benefit schedule would be as follows (“principal sum” is the face amount of the benefit rider): Loss Amount Paid Sight in both eyes Principal sum Sight in one eye Half of principal sum One member Half of principal sum Two members Principal sum Disability Income Rider Similar to the waiver of premium rider, the Disability Income Rider pays a monthly income directly to the disabled person. The insured must be totally disabled to receive payments and the definition of disability follows the standards described for waiver of premium. The same exclusions also apply. Disability income riders provide a relatively modest amount of income per $1,000 of life insurance coverage - commonly $5, $10 or $15 per $1,000. Most companies also require a three- to six-month waiting period following disability before monthly payments begin. Alter the waiting period, payments are retroactive to the first day of disability. 49 ACCELERATED DEATH BENEFIT RIDER The Accelerated Death Benefit rider (may also be a policy provision) provides for the payment of all or a portion of the death benefit of the policy prior to the death of the insured if the death of the insured is caused by some specific medical condition. There are three types of Accelerated Death Benefits riders. Terminal Illness The Terminal Illness coverage provides that a specific percentage of the face amount, such as 25% or 50%, will be paid (frequently with a maxmim of $250,000) if the insured is diagnosed as having a terminal illness. Generally, the coverage will specify that the insured have no more than 6 months to live, others may use one year as the maximum. This terminality of the illness must be proven by a physicians certification, as well as a hospital or nursing home, &/or a medical exam ordered by the insurer. Insurers usually notify beneficiaries and assignees of the acceleration. Dividends and cash values, plus death benefits and premiums, will be red uced by the accelerated percentage. Catastrophic Illness The Catastrophic Illness coverage closely resembles the Terminal Illness coverage, except that the insured must have been diagnosed with one of the specified diseases (also known as “dread diseases”), such as stroke, cancer, heart attack, coronary artery surgery, renal failure, etc. This coverage is not as available as it once was, as the marketing of this option has been criticized heavily by insurance departments and other officials because of “fe arbased” selling and claims difficulties. The NAIC has published Accelerated Benefits Guidelines for Life Insurance, which specifies the illustrations that must be provided for prospective purchasers. Long Term Care Coverage The Long Term Care Coverage type of accelerated death benefit, provides that monthly benefits will be paid if the insured is confined because of a medical condition. Qualifications are strict, and the insured must be confined in a qualified facility and the confinement must be medically necessary. Provisions vary, and can cover skilled nursing facilities, intermediate nursing care facilities and custodial care facilities. Some cover home health convalescent care. The elimination period can be 2 to 6 months, and some insurers requ ire that the policy be in force for a specified number of years. The monthly benefit typically equals 2 percent of the face amount of the life insurance policy, subject to a specified maximum amount and a specified total maximum payout. Some companies use a “two-tiered” approach, so that the percentages are reduced in relation to the face amount, such as 2% of the first $100,000 of face amount, ½% of the 50 amount over that. The maximum payout is generally 50% of the face amount of the policy. NOTE: Some financial planners have suggested a Long Term Care rider on a life insurance policy, instead of a long term care insurance (LTC) policy. There is a danger in this, as in many situations, it is less expensive to purchase a life insurance policy and a long term care insurance policy (both). In addition, the LTC policy has much more flexibility and more benefits. GUARANTEED INSURABILITY The guaranteed insurability or purchase option rider guarantees future opportunities for insureds to purchase additional insurance without proving they are still insurable. This rider may used with cash value policies only (not term), and typically may be used only to purchase more cash value coverage. Guaranteed insurability riders are offered to younger people who are m ore likely to remain healthy. The option to purchase more insurance without proving insurability ends at the insured’s age 40 or any other age stipulated by the insurance policy. The insurer offers a number of “option dates” on which the insured may elect to purchase the additional insurance. Option dates are usually about three years apart and the number available to a given insured depends upon the insured's age when the rider is purchased and the age at which the option expires. For example, with thre e year periods and an option ending at age 40, a 25-year-old could purchase additional coverage at ages 28, 31, 34, 37 and 40, with five option dates available. A 34 -year-old would have only two, at ages 37 and 40. Some insurance companies permit the purchase of additional coverage ahead of the stipulated option date when the birth of a child occurs. Riders with this provision cost more than the standard rider. Each insurer establishes certain minimum additional amounts of coverage, such as $5,000 minimum plus additional increments of $1,000. The maximum amount of additional insurance permitted is the amount of the original policy's death benefit. While this rider guarantees that the insured will be able to buy coverage without proving insurability, the insured's attained age is used to determine the cost, so there are no guarantees about the cost of the coverage. COST OF LIVING RIDER (COLA) The Cost of Living Adjustment rider helps the amount of insurance to correspond with inflationary increases, measured by the consumer price index (CPI). For example, if the CPI rises 1.5% over a year's time, the policyowner may purchase more insurance equal to 1.5% of the policy's face value. An upper limit applies, typically 10% of the face value. 51 Cost of living riders usually allow the purchase of one-year term insurance added to a whole life policy. Some permit a small amount of whole life as paid -up coverage and others might allow a combination of one-year term and the paid-up addition of whole life. If the policy is universal life, the death benefit is simply increased. The COLA rider is usually available only with cash value policies, rarely with term insurance. The policyowner may choose to activate the cost of living rider or not, but must specifically decline it if no additional coverage is desired. Under universal life policies, policyowners must be very clear about their desires because if they skip a premium the insurer will automatically adjust the cash value account to pay both the premium and the cost to adjust the death benefit to the CPI. TERM RIDER Term Riders attached to a life insurance policy to enhance the benefits have been briefly discussed earlier in this text. Term riders may be attached to cash value policies only and the period during which the term rider is in effect may not be longer than the premium-payment period of the cash value policy. The cost of the term rider is added to the cost of the cash value policy so the policyowner pays a single premium. Term riders are less costly than separate term policies, but they may be purchased only in conjunction with a cash value policy, so the total cost is greater. Once the term rider is purchased, the insured may not let the cash value policy lapse and simply maintain the less costly term rider. An insured may, however, cancel the term rider while maintaining the cash value policy, although this practice is discouraged. The term rider may provide level term coverage, or increasing or decreasing term coverage. Most purchasers in today’s market, purchase the coverage to be added to the base policy so they can purchase a high-value term life insurance rider, or a rider that permits them to make additional premium payments to accelerate the cash value buildup, which may or may not increase the death benefits. STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 3 1. Settlement Options A. are the exclusive right of the beneficiary. B. are determined by the insurance company at the time the policy is issued.. C. determines how the proceeds of a life insurance policy will be paid. 52 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The beneficiary receives an income for the rest of their life under A. the life income option. B. an interest only option. C. a fixed amount option. A transfer by the policyowner of all rights in his/her life insurance policy A. is illegal. B. can only be accomplished by withdrawing the cash value and transferring the cash. C. is called an assignment. When an insured becomes terminally ill, he/she may sell his/her policy. This is called a A. collateral assignment. B. viatical settlement. C. settlement option. If the owner of a traditional life insurance policy wants to borrow from the policy he/she A. can borrow up to the face amount of the policy. B. can borrow nearly 100% of the cash value. C. must get the consent of the beneficiary. The reinstatement clause of a life insurance policy A. allows premiums to be paid with 31 days of the due date. B. allows the policyowner to reinstate a policy that has lapsed. C. is available to the policyowner at anytime after a policy lapses. The misstatement of age provisions A. allows the insurance company to void the policy. B. requires the insured to reapply for the insurance using the correct age. C. is of benefit to the insured. A waiver of premium rider A. is mandated by law. B. allows the policy to continue without further premium payments if the insured becomes disabled and cannot work. C. is paid if the disability is self-inflected. 53 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. If an insured becomes disabled and the Waiver of Premium applies; then A. the policy is considered paid up. B. the insurance company pays a monthly benefit to the insured. C. cash values continue to increase and loans can be obtained. A term rider A. attaches to a life insurance policy to enhance the benefits. B. attaches to a life insurance policy at no charge. C. cannot be cancelled without canceling the cash value policy. If a life income option with a period certain is selected by the policyowner the insurance company A. pays the death benefit in such a way that the beneficiaries receive an income for the rest of their lives. B. will pay benefits in installments first to the primary beneficiary. If the primary beneficiary dies before the pre-determined period, then the contingent beneficiary receives the payments. C. will pay benefits for a pre-determined fixed period of time. If there is a “collateral assignment” of a life insurance policy to a lending institution as collateral for a loan A. the policyowner can borrow from the policy. B. the lending institution keeps the entire death benefit, even if the loan has been paid. C. the lending institution collects the proceeds at death. If a policyowner borrows from a life insurance policy A. the loan is expected to be repaid. B. there is no interest charged. C. the cash surrender value is not effected. If a “disability income” rider is added to a life insurance policy, and the insured become disabled, the A. insurance company will pay the premiums on the policy. B. insurance company pays a monthly income to the disabled person. C. death benefits will be reduced by the amount the insurance company paid for the disability. 54 15. The accelerated benefit of Long-Term Care Coverage A. us part of all life insurance policies. B. provides that monthly benefits will be paid if the insured is confined because of a medical condition. C. takes effect when the first premium is paid. Answers to Chapter 3 Study Questions 1C 2A 3C 4B 5B 6B 7C 8B 9C 10A 11B 55 12C 13A 14B 15B CHAPTER FOUR - TRADITIONAL LIFE INSURAN CE T E R M L I FE I N S U R A N C E PO L I C I E S Term insurance is discussed first as it is the simplest form of insurance, actually the basic form of life insurance. Term life insurance provides either level or decreasing death benefits, and in some cases, increasing death benefits (usually a “rider” to a policy). The majority of life insurance sold in the U.S. – and probably worldwide also – is term insurance, which provides for a level death benefit over the period of the policy, with either level premiums or with premiums that increase with age (as discussed previously). RENEWABLE TERM POLICIES When a term policy has level death benefits and with increasing premiums, they are considered as renewable term policies. The yearly renewable term policies (which are also known as annual renewable term) are the simplest forms of term policies. There are also five-year, 10 year and 20 year (and other policy periods) renewable term policies available (all increasing premium policies). Some insurance companies have recently moved away from yearly renewable term (YRT) policies as these policies traditionally have high lapse ratios and low premiums, leading to unprofitable business. Premiums are low as competition for YRT and similar policies that have no benefits other than death benefits, are purchased on a cost basis mostly, leading to recent “rate wars.” In addition to lower premiums, companies differentiate in their pricing in other areas, such as different premiums for smokers and non-smokers. This discount for nonsmokers can be substantial, as much as 50% with some companies. When the smoker/non-smoker premiums were developed for general use several years ago, actuaries took into consideration the difference in mortality between smokers and non smokers, and decreased the premium for non-smokers to create a block of “preferred” risk insureds. Logically, if those with better mortality were to be removed from the general “population,” then those remaining would be considered “sub -standard” and should pay higher premiums. When companies even suggested raising premiums on smokers, there was howls of protest from the marketing departments, with the result that if a company raised the premiums on smokers, their agents would write non smokers and (unless they were “captive” agents) would place the smokers with those companies that did not differentiate or did not have separate premiums for smokers and non-smokers. This would mean that those that accepted the smoker risks would suffer worse mortality than expected particularly those who made no distinction. 56 Another method of pricing differently was the introduction of a reentry feature. The insured may be allowed to “reenter” the lower priced group of policyowners (those that have reentered) periodically, typically once every 5 years. The insured will have their premium lowered if they resubmit evidence of insurability at that time. Technically, those who enter at the end of the reentry period will have their premium reduced to premiums that are based on first-year select mortality for their attained age. A brief explanation of “select” mortality should be of interest here. Select mortality is derived from a table showing the mortality of only those persons who have purchased insurance during the past year. These tables cl early show that such people have a much lower mortality rate in the years immediately following their purchase of insurance, than those who have been insured for some time because they have recently passed medical (and other) tests, and, of course, because they are younger. The mortality “curve” which shows the increase in mortality as individuals age, will show much lower mortality on a select basis, than on the general population (called an Aggregate Mortality table), and of those of the entire group exclusive of the initial period after purchasing life insurance (Ultimate Mortality table). CONSUMER APPLICATION John, age 40, considers purchasing a $100,000 of term insurance with no reentry feature, with a premium of $185. He also considers a policy with a 5-year reentry feature, with the initial premium of $138. However, at the end of 5 years, the nonreentry premium would be $228. However, with reentry (submission of evidence of insurability) the premium would still be $138, a 25% savings over the reg ular term. He must also take into consideration whether he believes he will continue to be in good health at future reentry dates. LEVEL PREMIUM POLICIES Term insurance may be written for a specified period of years – typically 10 and 20 years, or to age 65. These policies have become quite popular in recent years as there has been so much interest in investing in the stock market that the difference in premium between permanent insurance and level premium term policies makes more funds available for investment. There is a product available, called life-expectancy term that provides level premiums for the expected lifetime of the insured, according to the specified mortality tables. This would lead to some cash value (non-forfeiture value laws apply), but the cash value increases to a point, and then decreased to zero by the end of the policy period. Term-to-age-65 (or a later age, such as 70) provides insurance for a shorter period of time than do the life-expectancy policies, and is used mostly for life insurance protection during the working years of the insured. The cash values perform as with life-expectancy term. 57 VARYING FACE AMOUNT TERM INSURANCE Decreasing Term where the face amount decreases over time is sold in significant amounts in the U.S. One of the primary uses of decreasing term is for mortgage protection. With these policies, the face amount decreases each year in the same amount that the mortgage decreases, therefore in case of death before the mortgage is satisfied, there will be sufficient funds for the heirs to pay off the mortgage in full. Term that decreases in the same amount each year of the policy period is used for a variety of purposes, and may be used for mortgage protection also. The disadvantage of using decreasing term per se for mortgage protection is that the death benefit does not exactly match the decrease in the mortgage amount. As anyone who has ever had a mortgage can attest, during the early years of a mortgage, the mortgage amount decreases very slowly because of interest on the unpaid amount. Therefore if an insured would die in the early years of a mortgage, a decreasing term policy would be considerably short of providing all the funds to retire the mortgage. Another type of decreasing term is the payor benefit rider on a policy, which insures the life of a juvenile. The rider provides a death benefit in case of the death of the premium-payor, which would pay the exact premium to keep the juvenile policy in force until the juvenile insured reaches age 21. The family income policy (it can also be sold as a Rider) provides funds to be paid to a surviving spouse until a certain age or for a predetermined period of time (10, 15, 20 years, typically). It is sold as protection during the time that children ar e being raised, and the policy then expires. Increasing Term insurance is seldom sold as a policy, but is usually sold as a rider to a permanent plan of insurance. In the past, during inflationary times, it was popular as a Cost of Living Adjustment rider, which would provide for automatic increases in the policy death benefit calculated by a designated index, such as the Consumer Price Index. There is no evidence of insurability required as long as the insured continues to accept the added premium and increased death benefit each year. A separate premium notice is mailed each year for this rider. A decline in the cost of living is not reflected, but the amount of the previous year is automatically transferred to the present year. A return-of-premium rider is also available, which returns an additional amount of death benefit equal to the premiums paid for the insurance, if the insured dies within a stipulated period of time. This is a misnomer, as there really is no “premium returned,” but the death benefit increases each year by the amount of the premium paid, with the increases “financed” by an increasing term rider. This rider is primarily used in business situations. Increasing term insurance may also be purchased by dividends, thereby providin g an important source of needed additional coverage and can be used advantageously in business situations. 58 ENDOWME NT INSU RAN CE Prior to 1984, endowment insurance was used by many as a savings vehicle. In 1984, the tax laws pretty much limited endowment policies to qualified retirement plans, but even before that, endowment plans were having difficulty competing with whole life and term insurance, primarily because of the high first-year expenses related to endowments. There are many endowment policies still in force in the U.S., and a retirement income endowment was a well-known use of the endowments that paid either the death benefit or the cash value at death, whichever was greater – and is still used in some pension plans. A semi-endowment policy pays half of the death benefit if the insured survives the policy period. In the 1970’s, deposit term was popular and some agents and agencies became wealthy promoting this plan. Although it is a term policy, it provided for the payment of an endowment that was equal to a multiple of the difference between the high first year premiums and the renewal premiums. By increasing the first year premium (deposit), premiums for the rest of the policy period would be lower because of the projected interest on the “deposit.” Actually, this plan was so misrepresented and so confusing to policyowners, that it soon became unpopular with regulatory bodies. Juvenile Endowment policies are not popular in the U.S. but are sold in large amounts in foreign countries. They provide expenses for a child’s education, marriage or independence. Education endowments are very popular in Japan and Korea. Obviously Universal Life and other variable products can provide this type of coverage, and at a lower price. W H O L E L I FE I N S U R A N C E As discussed earlier, whole life insurance pays a death benefit (face amount) upon the death of the insured, regardless of when that might be. For study purposes in this text and following definitions used in many other texts, “whole life insurance” is defined as any type of life insurance that can be maintained in effect indefinitely. Universal Life insurance can be considered as whole life if there are sufficient cash values. Whole life insurance generally is priced on mortality statistics that a ssume that all insureds die by a certain age, as illustrated and discussed earlier. Age 100 is commonly used, and those who live to age 100 can receive the full -face amount as if they had died. It is often viewed, as term-to-age-100 as actuarial calculations are based on the assumption that everyone that may survive to age 99, will die that last year. 59 O R D I N A R Y L I FE I N S U R A N C E While the terms are used interchangeably at times, ordinary life insurance is always whole life insurance, but whole life insurance is not always ordinary life insurance (as discussed below). Ordinary life insurance provides whole life insurance because the premiums are payable for life. This form of insurance is also known as straight life, and continuous-premium whole life, usually depending upon which is being compared to ordinary life. Basically, ordinary life policies provides permanent protection at an affordable (usually) premium. This is because the costs of mortality are spread throughout the entire policy. As anyone experienced in life insurance knows, premiums vary widely for reasons other than age or face amount, such as by dividends (if any), larger or smaller cash values, and excess-interest credits for certain types of policies. It is also a fact of life, whether one admits it or likes it; name recognition of the insurer can have an effect on the premiums. A lower premium is the only way some not -well-known companies can compete with the more advertised and better known insurance companies. The traditional whole life policies have lost a lot of market share to newer -generation interest sensitive products, such as Universal Life and Variable Universal Life (surprised?). These new products were introduced when interest rates were relatively high and agents were able to use projections showing larger interest growth than traditional life. Many, too many, insurers believed that the high rates shown in the illustration would continue, so when the interest rates fell, the actual results did not meet the results expected by the insureds, leading to a lot of “undesirable consequences” and lawsuits. The use and abuse of financial projections are discussed later in this text. Companies issuing traditional participating whole life policies were not affected so severely because they could credit higher rates of interest through dividends. These interest rates are predicated on the interest received on the entire portfolio of the company, and portfolio rates change much more slowly. Therefore when interest rates fall, Universal Life products do not fare as well as traditional policies. To compete better, companies offering traditional whole life introduced flexible provisions such as allowing the policyowner to determine their own future premium payments (within company and tax maximums and minimums). As an example, so that the insured can pay a lower than usual premium, low-load term riders with face amounts of (up to) 10 times the basic face amount was created. CONSUMER APPLICATION James, who just turned 35, purchases an ordinary life policy with a face amount of $100,000. The premium would be $1,500. However, using a combination of term rider and ordinary life, a rider can reduce the annual premium to $500. The insurance company offered to reduce the premium to any amount between $1500 and $500. 60 The policy is participating, and combining paid-up additions from the dividend and adding an increasing term rider, the company could provide a level death benefit with lower than usual premium. James wanted his premium to be fixed so that he could budget for it and he was concerned that the projected dividends may not be realized, so he opted for the first plan. If future dividends and surrenders of paid-up additions are sufficient, theoretically the policy is now self-sustaining, so after so many years, an insured can have the premium paid. This is called vanishing premiums and which is, in fact, erroneous. Note the first word of above sentence (IF), if the dividends are lower than those assumed initially, the policyowner will be called upon to resume premiums. Unhappy policyowners! (This is also discussed later in the section of interest -sensitive products). This same system is used with non-participating policies with nonguaranteed benefits. A policy deposit rider is used by some companies, whereby a policyowner deposits an amount to pay future premiums (providing sort of a “cleaned -up” deposit term). Therefore the premiums will be paid by the rider at some time in the future. (An immediately annuity is sometimes used to accomplish the same purpose). LIMITED PAYMENT WHOLE LIFE With a limited payment whole life policy, the policy remains in full force for the “whole of life” but premiums are paid for a limited period of time only. After that point, the policy becomes fully paid-up. For definition purposes, a policy matures when the face amount is payable, usually at death. A policy expires when the term of the policy expires and there is no benefits payable, such as in term insurance. Premiums for these types of policy are typically 10, 15, 20 or 30 year, or to age 65 or similar age. Because the premiums for these types of policies are (comparatively) high, there is not much demand in the individual life insurance market; however, limited payment policies can be used in business situations where it is important that the policy be paid-up within a certain time frame. Single premium whole life policies are those whole life policies where, as the name implies, the entire premium for the life of the policy is paid from inception with a single payment. As one can imagine, the cash value of the single premium policy is substantial from the date of the policy. Because of the high premiums, these policies are not frequently sold but are used for special situations. 61 CONSUMER APPLICATION Bertha, age 55, had 4 small-face-amount policies which were taken out when she was a child, by her parents and doting grandparents, and when she was first married. These policies were either endowment policies (3) or limited pay life ( 20-pay life). Totally, there were cash values of $25,000 (which had been considered a lot of money when she first was insured). The cash values were credited only with 3% interest. Bertha was a widow and wanted to make sure that her burial expenses wer e covered by insurance, and she wanted to leave a small amount of money to a nurse that had helped her in the past few years. She is uninsurable now so she could not get a new policy. Bertha, upon the advice of her agent, “cashed in” the policies, and rec eived the $25,000, which she immediately used to purchase a single premium policy. Since she met the requirements for a Section 1035 exchange (non-taxable), when she died there was sufficient (approximately $10,000) for her burial, the remainder going to her nurse. She no longer had to worry about burial expenses. C U R R E N T A S S U M P T I O N W H O L E L I FE I N S U R A N C E A current assumption whole life (CAWL) provides a “bridge” between traditional insurance and interest sensitive “new generation” products. In effect, a CAWL is called “interest sensitive whole life” by some, and also called “fixed -premium whole life” by others. The CAWL provides non-par whole life insurance under a more modern “transparent” format. Generally the policy will use interest rates that refl ect the newmoney rates and will also use the current mortality charges in determining the cash value. While more traditional whole life policies use dividends as a means of passing to the policyowner any changes in assumptions used in the pricing of the original policy, CAWL uses changes in the cash value and premiums to reflect the changes in the company expense and interest criteria from that that is guaranteed inside the contract. Because CAWL policies are “unbundled,” much like Universal Life, ther e is a stated allocation of premium payments and interest earnings to the mortality charges, expenses and cash values. Contract this with the traditional whole life policy, where the policyowner has no idea as to how these funds are allocated. To be specific, the premiums paid are charged for expense charges, and the remainder is a (net) addition to the policy fund. This is added to the previous policy fund balance and any interest (at the current rate) that has accumulated on the fund. From this fund total, a mortality charge is made, and the remaining amount is the year -end fund balance. This balance less any stipulated surrender charges would be the net surrender value if the policy were to be surrendered. The CAWL can be either a low-premium plan, or a high-premium plan. 62 CAWL Low -premiu m Plan The initial indeterminate premium is lower than that of a traditional ordinary life policy and the policy has a provision that allows the company to “re -determine the premium using either the same or other (new) assumptions for future mortality and/or interest, within the guaranteed assumptions in the policy.” When the premium is re-determined, so that it combines with the existing account value, will be sufficient to maintain a level death benefit for the l ife of the policy (if the new assumptions are proven correct). If these new assumptions are higher or lower than those used at the time of issue, the premiums will be either higher or lower – if they are the same; the premium will remain the same. If the new premiums are lower than the previous premium, there are three options available to the policyowner: 1. The policyowner may pay the new (lower) premium and keep the previous death benefit. (The usual choice. 2. The policyowner may elect to continue to pay the previous premium, maintain the same death benefit, and pay the difference into the fund. 3. The policyowner may continue to pay the previous premium, but use the difference to purchase an increased death benefit. If this option is used, the insured may be subject to evidence of insurability. CAWL High -p remi um Plan If the premium is higher than the previous premium: 1. The policyowner may pay the new (higher) premium and keep the previous death benefit. 2. The policyowner may elect to continue to pay the previous premium, but accept a lower death benefit that can be paid-for by the new higher premium. 3. The policyowner may continue to pay the previous premium and keep the same death benefit, using some of the cash value to pay the additional premium. This option is usually available only if the account is at a determined level for at least 5 years in the future. The high premium plan is as the name implies, relatively high, however there is a guarantee that the premium will not exceed a stated amount. Some of t he policies offer a vanishing premium concept which states that the “vanish” will continue as long as it is greater than the minimum cash value. Policyowners have been known to confuse the “may vanish” in this option, with a paid-up life policy where the policy has no more premiums to be paid. There are many variations of this policy, some of short -lived duration. The principal difference between the CAWL and Universal Life is that the CAWL has a required premium, making it easier for companies to administer, and the company has a greater control over the cash value buildup. One of the principal advantages in the mind of 63 many people is that it “forces” the payment of an established premium amount. One of the well-established advantages of life insurance as a savings or investment vehicle is that many people do not consider themselves (and probably rightfully so) as having the personal discipline to pay flexible premiums. MODIFIED LIFE INSURANCE A Modified Life insurance policy is a whole life policy with the early premium (from 1 to 5 years) considerably lower than the typical whole life policy and with higher premiums after the modified period. Some policies charge 50% of the usual premium for a period of 3 or 5 years, and then charge the higher premiums. There are two types of modified life policies that are highly advertised and considerable premium has been generated with these policies. The principal type is used for “ senior” citizens and sold usually in units of $1,000 or $10,000 and are sold primarily to be used for final expenses. These policies may have either no premium for the modified period – 1 to 3 years –or a very low premium. The health questions are very simple and there is little, if any, underwriting, as the premium is loaded for the extra mortality. But the big difference between these policies and similar modified plans is that if there is a death during the modified period, then the beneficiary will receive only the return of premium. Most states now require that those plans that offered this plan must contain an accidental death benefit of the face amount, or a multiple thereof during the modified period. Otherwise these plans could not be considered as “life insurance.” Makes sense The second type is not as prevalent now as it once was. It is offered to substandard risks, and the original plan would accept any person with no evidence of insurability. There was a premium during the modified period (some offered reduced premiums) and in most respects, the plan was identical to the Senior plan discussed in the previous paragraph. If the insured lived past the modified period, any serious health problems would either have been resolved, or the insured would have died, and in which case the beneficiary received the premiums paid (the insurance company kept the interest on the premiums). Eventually, there were a very few health questions asked, such as previous or present episodes of cancer, heart attack, or being hospitalized within the past 6 months (or similar period). Interestingly, prior to these questions being asked, one company’s actuary insisted that the agents could actually accept anyone in a “cancer ward.” While technically and actuarally this may have been correct, the company management could not bring themselves to market in this area. “ENHANCED” LIFE INSURANCE The enhanced life policy is a participating whole life policy that uses dividends to reduce the premiums of the policy. There are several variations but perhaps the best known is a whole life policy whose premiums are reduced after 5 years (usually), but 64 the face amount stays level because the dividends are used to purchase paid -up insurance so that the face amount remains level. If the dividends are not quite adequate to meet the premium requirement s, then the dividends are used to purchase one-year term. If they are more than adequate, the excess is used to purchase paid-up additions (so the face amount may be higher). GRADED PREMIUM WHOLE LIFE Graded Premium Whole Life policies are similar to Modified Life policies described above and are often sold for the same purpose. The typical Modified Life policy charges premiums that are 50% of the usual premium for a whole life policy, and increase incrementally over the next time period (5 to 20 years) , and then they remain level thereafter. Cash values do not grow as rapidly as with whole life and may not appear for 5 years or so. There are variations, such as an YRT policy that has increasing premiums for a specified number of years, and level thereafter. Actually this is an YRT policy that automatically converts into a permanent whole life after the term period. This is useful for those who can afford to pay for protection in an increasing amount each year, but then wants a level premium later, such as retirement or after reaching some financial or lifestyle goal. DEBIT INSURANCE Dating back to England in the 17 th century, debit insurance was the major type of life insurance sold in the U.S. until the beginning of the 20 th century. Also called Industrial insurance, it was sold in small amounts, usually no more than $2,000, and was sold door-to-door by “debit” agents who had their own territory – called a “debit” because the insurance agent would accept the payment (usually weekly, then later monthly) and then “debit” the insured’s record for the premium payment. In today’s market, debit insurance usually applies to any type of insurance sold through home marketing. Debit insurance has lost its appeal as $2,000 does not go far today and the p remiums are relatively high compared to other permanent insurance. Debit insurers have received bad publicity because their premiums are so high; however the principle reason that premiums are high is that the persistency is not good, as the lapse rate is very high. Many debit customers drop the insurance for a month or so if finances become tight, and then start again when they have a few dollars available. Today most of the companies are called home service life insurance companies, which is an appropriate name, and most of their “debit” insurance is monthly debit ordinary which are ordinary life policies written for amounts of $5,000 to $25,000, usually with premiums collected 65 monthly at the policyowners home, although some policyowners make monthly payments regularly at the local insurance office, or they mail the premiums monthly. It is fully expected that debit insurance will continue to decrease as group insurance has replaced much of the debit insurance. There has also been considerable legislati on restricting the marketing and provisions of debit insurance, with the result that much of the profit of this business has disappeared. FAMILY POLICY A Family policy is a policy or a rider on a contract, that provides for whole life insurance for the father or mother, and with term insurance for the other family members. The coverage on the spouse and children can be a specified amount of insurance, or it can vary by age. The amount of life insurance is often measured by a “unit,” typically $1,000 of coverage per unit for spouse and children, and $5,000 per unit for the principal insured. The premium for a family policy typically will remain level, regardless if there are additional children, and is based upon an average number of children. This co uld prove inexpensive coverage if there are several children or expensive if there is only 1 child. JUVENILE INSURANCE Typically, Juvenile Insurance is a whole life policy issued on the application of the parent or other responsible person, on the life of a juvenile. Most juvenile policies are written on children who are at least one month old and the applicant controls the policy until the child reaches the age of 18 (usually) or upon the death of the applicant, whichever comes first. The purposes of juvenile insurance are many, but principally it is used for guaranteeing a college fund to the child entering college, or at least there will be a cash value that can be used for college purposes. It is also frequently used to guarantee that there will be some life insurance for the child even if the child becomes uninsurable later. Many agents and financial planners insist that it is better to use the funds that would go to pay the premiums on a child, for the purchase of additional coverage on the “breadwinner” under the theory that there is little “financial” loss that will occur in the death of the child, and only the death of the breadwinner will cause a financial hardship. 66 BURIAL INSURANCE Burial insurance is also called “Pre-need Funeral Insurance” by some of those in the business, as it is felt that “burial” is a small part of the final expense of the insured, undoubtedly true. This policy provides that a fund will be made available for final expenses, and in most cases, it is used to fund a prearranged funeral. The funeral provider (usually a funeral home) agrees to furnish certain services and articles for the funeral, including casket and in many cases, even a burial plat, for the amount of the policy. These policies are usually sold to persons 65 to 70, and provide $2,500 to $10,000 of coverage – frequently a single premium whole life policy. There were considerable concerns about these policies, as some consumer advocates believe that the funeral companies were taking advantage of older persons because they were easily confused and did not understand that they were dealing with a life insurance agent. The NAIC has since changed its advertising and disclosure model regulations to include funeral insurance, with the result that complaints have diminished significantly. MULTIPLE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES First-to-Die insurance, Survivor Life insurance, Joint and Last Survivor and Secondto-Die insurance are all forms of providing life insurance on two lives but with the death benefit paid at the death of one of the parties. The death benefit is paid at the death of the second survivor under survivor, joint and last survivor and second -to-die insurance policies, but under the first-to-die coverage, benefits are paid when the first person dies. (Did the names of these policies give a clue?) These policies are popular because they are less expensive than other whole life policies on two lives; however they really are not less expensive for the benefits they provide. In the first-to-die policy, the policy may be less expensive than individual insurance on two insureds. However, the insurance company only pays on the death of one person, leaving the other person, who may actually be uninsurable at that time, without insurance. Second-to-die policies also pay off at the death of one person, but in this case it is the death of the second person. This delays the time and chance that the company will be called upon to pay a death benefit. Therefore, “actuarially” speak ing, the mortality costs for life insurance in the policy are much less than in policies that covers only a single life. The second survivor does not receive any benefits when the first person dies, so the second survivor will have to pay premiums on a po licy that is now a single life policy. 67 These policies should not be considered as “bargains” but only as policies that can meet the needs of a particular situation quite efficiently. DISINTERME DIATI ON Any discussion of traditional life insurance cannot be complete without the problems of disintermediation being addressed. Disintermediation is the flow of funds out of one financial instrument, whose interest rates are low, into another financial instrument whose interest rates are higher. In the early 1980’s, insurance companies experienced disintermediation as whole life policies were surrendered for their cash values and these sums were then transferred to higher-interest-paying noninsurance products. Because of these situations, interest sensitive policies were developed by life insurance companies. Because of the disintermediation, insurers had to liquidate bonds and other securities, usually at significant discounts from par. Because of this, dividends paid at that time on participating policies were not competitive with interest credits on current assumption policies. Companies embarked on campaigns to alleviate the replacement problem by making older policies more competitive in an effort to hold on to their existing customers. Previously, for many years, companies had a tendency to pay higher dividends than what was necessary, but when the interest rates fell during the 1980’s, companies had to reduce dividends and other interest credits, to a level below what was illustrated in the policies. Some insurance companies (actually many companies) maintained higher interest rate credits than were justified in an effort to keep their customer base. Some companies began to invest in riskier investments (the riskier the investment, the higher the income – usually) so as to stop the investment return decline. Finally, during the early years of the 1990’s, nothing seemed to work for some of the insurance companies, and there were some rather large – and several small – companies that became insolvent or under the protection of the insurance departments. The saving grace for some companies has been policy exchanges. During the late 1980’s, there were a few companies who encouraged 1035 policy exchanges (non taxable exchange) and thousands of policies were exchanged for those giving a higher interest rate. Some companies used an internal exchange in an effort to save their own business, while others would actually solicit policies from other companies. Because of the interest rates at that time, there were many mutual participating policies exchanged for interest-sensitive products. In many, if not most, cases, there was no requirement for evidence of insurability. Other companies “streamlined” the evidence requirements. 68 Companies that “enhanced” their policies or encouraged exchanging policies for newer versions, lost some of the profitability that they enjoyed on their old block of business, but anticipated making up for it by increased profit on their new business because of higher interest rates and higher profile in the marketplace. REPLACEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE In 1993, the American Society of CLU and ChFC (Chartered Life Underwriters and Chartered Financial Consultants) created an Illustration Questionnaire to assist the client and the agent under different assumptions used in illustrations. Illustrations are discussed later in this text, but suffice it to say at this point that a typical method of replacing policies has been by using illustrations and projections. This questionnaire asks the insurance company to provide answers for the following questions. Does what you are showing in this illustration differ from what is going on now in your company? Do you treat new policyowners and existing policyowners consistently? Is the number of deaths assumed in your illustration the same as your company is currently experiencing? Does the illustration assume that the number of people dying in the future will increase, decrease or stay the same as your current experience? Do the mortality costs generated by your assumptions about the number of people dying include some expenses or margin for profit? Do these changes vary by product? What is the basis for the interest rate used in the illustration? Is that interest rate net or gross? Does the interest rate illustrated exceed what you are currently earning? Do the expense assumptions in the illustration reflect your actual expense experience? If more people keep your policies than your illustrations assume, would that result in all the policyowners getting less? Do the illustrations include non-guaranteed bonuses after the policy has been held any specific number of years? Please note that these are not all of the questions asked, and there can be several answers to any of the questions. 69 States also require that a replacement form be completed and signed by the applican t for insurance when an insurance policy is being replaced by another policy. The purpose is to eliminate “twisting” as much as possible. GR O U P L I FE I N S U R A N C E Group life insurance is an important part of the life insurance industry, accounting for about 40% of all life insurance in force by amount with an average certificate of $32,000. GROUP INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS While the minimum size of a group was typically 50 lives a few years ago, it is now usual for states to require a minimum of 10 lives required by state law and by insurance companies. The larger the group, the less expense per person is incurred. Generally, only active, full-time employees are eligible for group coverage, usually specified by occupation classification of those that must be included in the group, such as “salaried employees” or “all hourly employees.” The employee must be actively at work for a normal number of hours per week (usually 30 hours) at the employee’s regular job at the date the employee becomes eligible for cove rage. Employees usually have a probationary period, usually one to six months, during which they are not eligible for coverage. After this period, under a contributory plan (the employee pays part of the premium) the employee has an eligibility period in which they must apply for insurance without submitting evidence of insurability. This period is usually for 30, 31 or 45 days. If the plan is noncontributory, then there is no eligibility period as all employees automatically go on the plan when they have completed the probationary period. The coverage period is usually the length of time that the employee remains with the employer (assuming the plan stays in force with the employer and the employee pays their share of the premium, if any). The employer has the right to continue coverage for an employee temporarily off the job and upon termination; coverage is usually afforded for 31 days. Typically, the employee does not specify the benefit amount and the amount is usually (1) a set amount for all employees, (2) a percentage of the employee’s income with the employer, (3) an amount that is designated for the position the employee holds (job title), or (4) a function of the employees length of service. Insurers do not usually write insurance for less than $2,000 on an employee, most companies require $5,000 or $10,000, or more. Most companies allow for additional insurance over the normal maximum with evidence of insurability. 70 Employees usually have the option to convert their group life policy into an individual cash value policy within 31 days after termination of employment or after the employee ceases to be a member of an eligible position. The death benefit is paid under the group policy within 31 days after the insured has withdrawn from the e ligible group. A typical waiver of premium is used with group life insurance plans, and the premium will be waived as long as the insured can prove disability periodically. Group life insurance is basically yearly renewable term insurance. Group premiums are paid monthly, except with some small groups when premiums may be paid quarterly. Premiums are usually guaranteed for one year only, but often for competitive purposes, the premiums are guaranteed for a longer period of time. For contributory plans employee contributions are usually at a set rate per $1,000 of coverage at all ages. In most states, employers are required to pay at least a portion of the premium, and some states restrict the amounts that can be paid by any one employee, commonly 60 cents per month per $1,000 of coverage, or 75% of the total premium for that employee. Supplemental life insurance may be provided to employees, normally contributory and the amounts of insurance available are banded. Generally the maximum is a multipl e of the employee’s salary. A common form of group insurance is Credit Life insurance, which provides a benefit that is equal to the unpaid amount owed to the institution by the consumer. The creditor, which is usually a bank or a finance company, is bot h the policyowner and beneficiary of the policy. Premiums are usually paid by the debtor, but if there are dividends, they are paid to the creditor. Needless to say, group credit life can be very profitable to the lender and there has been considerable a buse. States have reacted and most states now have maximum rates that can be charged and most, if not all, states do not allow the purchase of credit life insurance to be a prerequisite for obtaining a loan. Group life insurance often includes an accelerated death benefit, which pays a portion of the face amount of the policy in case of the terminal illness of the employee. Under U.S. law, the value of the first $50,000 of employer-provided group term life insurance is non-taxable as income to the employee, but amounts over $50,000 may be taxable. If the employee contributes towards the plan, then the amount of the contributions are allocated to the excess coverage. The formula for determining the taxable amount to an employee is as follows: 1. The total amount of group term life insurance for the employee in each month of the taxable year. 2. The $50,000 is subtracted from each month’s coverage. 3. The IRS furnishes a Uniform Premium Table and the appropriate rate is applied to any balance for each month. 71 4. Then from the sum of the monthly cost, the total employee contributions for the year are subtracted. CONSUMER APPLICATION Johnson age 45 is provided $150,000 of group term life insurance by his employer. Johnson contributes $30 per month for this coverage, or 20 cents per $1,000 of coverage. Amount of coverage $150,000 Less: Exempt amount 50,000 Equals: Excess over the exempt amount $100,000 Times: ` Uniform Premium Table rate x0.15 Tentative monthly taxable income $ 15.00 Times: Months of coverage 12 Equals: Tentative yearly taxable income $ 180.00 Less: Employee contributions for 12 mos. $ 360.00 Taxable to employee (-)$ 180.00 Therefore, Johnson had no taxable income for this coverage. When a group has less than 10 lives, IRS Regulation 1.70-1(c) requires that all full-time employees who provide adequate evidence of insurability, must be included unless they “opt” out. Under the U.S. Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), the $ 50,000 tax exemption is not available to key employees if the plans discriminates in their favor, either in eligibility or type and amount of the benefit; but are not discriminatory if all benefits to the key employees are also available to all group membe rs. Plans will not be discriminatory if they have a uniform relationship to the total compensation of the group members, or the basic rate of compensation of each employee. For those retired employees, they may be provided group life insurance coverage i f the plan continues a portion of the term life insurance, or cash -value life insurance is provided, or a retired lives reserve is established. Group cash-value life insurance is the simplest method of providing coverage for retirees, and is usually expressed as either a flat amount or a percentage of the previous group coverage. Group paid-up insurance has been popular and is a combination of accumulating “units” of single-premium whole life and decreasing units of group term life. Usually this is on a contributory plan and the employees contributions go toward units of single premium whole life insurance. The employer’s contributions provides an amount of decreasing term insurance, when added with the amount the employee pays for, equals the total amount for which the employee is eligible. Then at retirement, the term insurance portion is discontinued and the paid-up insurance remains in force on the employee for the remainder of his/her life. 72 Group ordinary insurance can be any traditional plan (except group paid-up) that provides the cash value life insurance to employees, where the cost of the term portion is paid by the employer, and the cash value portion is paid by the employee (which the employee may refuse to accept). Group Universal Life which has the typical guaranteed interest fate, a fixed death benefit and loan option, but they also have the flexibility and added returns of the newer life insurance products. Group Universal Life (UL) is the same as individual UL, except that Group UL is generally issued (up to a certain amount) without evidence of insurability and is usually high enough to meet the needs of most employees. Group UL products usually pay low, or no, commission, plus administrative charges are lower than individual plans. Generally, these plans are 100% contributory; therefore the plans are totally portable. Retired life reserves (RLR) is a group reserve accumulated before retirement in order to pay premiums on term insurance after retirement. The employer can make tax-deductible contributions to this reserve on behalf of the employees, and these contributions are not taxed as income to the employees. RLRs can be administered through a trust or by a life insurance company and as long as there are employees participating in the plan, the reserve cannot be recaptured by the employer. If an employee dies (or resigns) prior to retirement, the individual’s reserve value is used to fund the RLR for others in the plan. The plan must be nondiscriminatory and limits the amounts to $50,000. Supplemental coverages are generally available, either through the insurer of the group, or by another insurer that offers supplemental benefits. These benefits can be accidental death, or accidental death & dismemberment. Some plans also offer Survivor Income Benefits where proceeds are payable in monthly income benefits only. Beneficiaries are not named but are covered by specified beneficiaries in the policy, and benefits usually continue as long as there is a surviving beneficiary and sometimes are discontinued if the survivor remarries. Dependent Life insurance may be offered whereby the spouse and/or unmarried dependent children are insured for usually a small amount of life insurance. 73 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 4 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Term Life Insurance A. builds cash values each year. B. is the simplest form of life insurance. C. cannot be renewed. Life insurance companies change A. more for smokers. B. more for “preferred” risks than “sub-standard risks”. C. the same premium for smokers and non-smokers. One of the primary uses of decreasing term life insurance is for A. life insurance during the working years of the insured. B. mortgage insurance. C. family income. A whole life insurance policy A. pays a death benefit upon the death of the insured, regardless of when that might be. B. must be paid in a lump sum upon the death of the insured. C. can be voided by the insurance company if the insured become sick. With a Limited Payment Whole Life policy A. the premium payment is limited to a lump sum. B. the insurance company is limited to paying the insured only if there is an accidental death. C. the policy remains in full force for the “whole of life” but premiums are paid for a limited period of time only. 74 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. A Modified Life insurance policy A. is a Term Life Insurance policy. B. is a Whole Life policy with early premiums lower than typical Whole Life policies. C. premiums remain level throughout the life of the insured. Debit insurance A. is usually written in amount of $100,000 and higher. B. premiums are low. C. is now sold by “home service life insurance companies”. Juvenile Insurance is a Whole Life policy A. principally used for guaranteeing a college fund. B. sold to teenagers. C. whereby the insured must prove insurability. Group life insurance A. is generally available to all employees. B. usually has a probationary period before an employee is eligible for coverage. C. is basically a Whole Life insurance policy. Employer-provided group Term Life insurance A. is non-taxable to the employee if the value is under $50,000. B. requires the employee to prove insurability. C. covers the employee even if they leave their employment. An Enhanced Life policy A. has low premiums at the beginning of the policy and then they increase. B. is a team policy without cash values. C. uses dividends to reduce the premiums. Burial insurance A. can only be used to cover the funeral director’s services. B. is usually sold by the funeral director who is also an insurance agent. C. is usually sold to college age individuals. 75 13. 14. 15. The “Replacement Questionnaire” was created to stop A. “twisting”. B. “redlining”. C. an agent from replacing one life insurance policy with a better one. With a Credit Life insurance policy A. the insured is the beneficiary. B. the bank or lending institution is both the policyowner and beneficiary of the policy. C. the bank or lending institution pays the premiums. Whole Life insurance pays a death benefit A. regardless of when the insured dies. B. only if the insured dies within a certain period of time, example: tens year. C. if the insured losses their sight. Answers to Chapter Four Study Questions 1B 2A 3B 4A 5C 6B 7C 8A 9B 76 10A 11C 12B 13A 14B 15A CHAPTER FIVE - INTEREST SENSITIVE LIFE INSUR ANCE This chapter could just as easily be called “new products”, as interest sensitive products are relatively new. As used in this text, interest sensitive life insur ance (there are also interest-sensitive annuities, such as equity indexed annuities) is a newer generation of life insurance policies that are credited with interest currently being earned by insurance companies on these policies. V A R I A B L E L I FE I N S U R A N C E Variable Life Insurance is an investment-oriented whole life insurance policy that provides a return linked to an underlying portfolio of securities. The portfolio typically is a group of mutual funds established by the insurer as a separate account, with the policyowner given some investment discretion in choosing the mix of assets among such investment vehicles as common stock fund, bond fund, &/or a money market fund. Variable life insurance offers fixed premiums and a minimum death benefit. The better the total return on the investment portfolio, the higher the death benefit or surrender value of the variable life insurance policy. Variable life insurance (VLI) was first offered in the U.S. in 1976 with only limited success. Equitable Life Assurance Society was a pioneer in VLI in the U.S., and suffered through four years of discussion, development and negotiations with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before the product was approved. Four years later, John Hancock, followed by Monarch Life, offered VLI products. Today, many insurers offer some versions of this policy. VLI was “invented” primarily to offset the effects of inflation and high interest rates on life insurance. Historically, the stock market tends to increase (when it do es increase) at a rate higher than inflation; therefore these plans should provide an excellent hedge against inflation. However, for short term investment results, sometimes inflation goes one way and the performance of investments goes the other. VLI has been slow to develop for several reasons, including the following: The policy must be registered as a security under the Securities Act of 1933. The agent selling it, therefore, must be registered under the SEC Act of 1934, and must pass the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD) Series Six Examination to have a license to sell it. Many agents have been uncomfortable selling securities, having been used to products with guarantees. 77 The National Association of Security Dealers (NASD) Conduct Rul es, by which any licensed representatives – including those who sell variable insurance products –; cover a very wide range of subjects. However any person who sells variable products needs to be familiar with these rules. There are the following nine to pics covered by these rules. A summary of the contents of these rules describes the topic. 2100 General Standards: This topic defines the established standards of marketing securities and is illustrated by a number of “Don’t Do” examples. Unethical pra ctices are described, including withholding, trading ahead, front running and intimidation. 2200 Communications with Customers and the Public: Details the proper methods of ethical communications and how to achieve full disclosure. Discussed the proper ways to use rankings, confirmations, forward materials and disclose financial conditions. 2300 Transactions With Customers: Discusses “suitability” – recommending certain products for specific situations and needs and goals of the clients. Also provides directions as to how to deal with customers. 2400 Commissions, Markups and Charges:. This topic discusses discounting of securities (must not), the differences between members and nonmembers, and a discussion of charging for services rendered. 2500 Special Accounts: Handling of discretionary accounts and margin requirements by broker-dealers. 2700 Securities Distribution: Very broad discussion of underwriting terms, conflicts of interest, securities taken in trade, transactions with related persons a nd price disclosure in selling agreements. 2800 Special Products: Rules on direct participation programs, variable contracts, investment company securities, warrants, and options, including index options. 2900 Responsibilities to Other Brokers or Dealers: When a member of the Association has a financial interest in the business of another member, under what circumstances do they provide financial disclosure to the other member, and to what extent. 3000 Responsibilities Relating to Associated Persons, Employees and Other’s Employees: The supervision of Registered Representatives, surely bonds, etc. NOTE: These topics are discussed in more detail in the section on Variable Universal Life. In December 1976, the SEC introduced Rule 6E-2 which provided some exceptions from the Investment Company Act of 1940 that provided impetus for this product’s acceptance. This rule requires that insurance companies provide an accounting to contract holders, imposes limitations on sales charges, and required that insu rers offer 78 refunds of exchanges to variable-life purchasers under certain circumstances. Policyowners must also be given the opportunity of returning to a whole -life policy. The principal part of Rule 6E-2 is that it defines VLI as a policy in which the insurance element is predominant. Cash values are funded by separate accounts of a life insurer (not mingled with other funds held by the company). Perhaps more importantly, the death benefits and cash value vary to reflect the investment experience. Bu t the policy has to have a minimum, guaranteed, death benefit, and the mortality and expense risks are borne by the insurer. The policy itself is structured like a whole life policy inasmuch as there is a stated face amount at a stated age, and this face amount requires stated level premium amount. The “variable” element is the cash value, and it rises and falls depending upon the investment results of the investment fund pertaining to that particular VLI policy. There is no guaranteed minimum for the funds, however the fixed premium VLI policies guarantee that the face amount will not go below the face amount shown on the policy at time of issue, and the level premium is required to keep the policy in force. While the original VLI policies had only a money market account and a common stock available for the investment vehicles, there are more choices today. If the investment account(s) are positive, then the face amount of the policy is adjusted upward at the anniversary date. However, if the account(s) are negative, the death benefit will decrease but never less than the face amount stated on the policy. Investment results of a VLI policy is affected by borrowing. If a policy loan is taken, the equity of the underlying investment accounts is collat eralized and the insurance company moves an account which is equal to the borrowed amount, from the investment account to a “loan guarantee account” which is not subject to market fluctuations. The fund will earn less (usually 1% or 2%) than the interest charged the policyowner on the loan. This loan guarantee account will contain these funds until the loan is repaid. VLI provides against “inflation” by guaranteeing that the face amount of the policy will never be less than the stated face amount on the policy, regardless of the fluctuations of the investment account, as long as the premiums are paid. The face amount guarantee of the Variable Life policy is not available in Universal Life or Universal Variable Life. MARKET SHARE OF VLI Prior to 1998, only 3 companies sold VLI products and represented only 1% of the life insurance sold. By 1981, there were 10 companies selling VLI and market share increased to 2.5% of the ordinary life premium. Even though the growth of VLI was inhibited by large development costs to the insurance companies, and in particular the licensing requirements for agents and their discomfort with mutual funds products 79 (many agents felt disloyal to the life insurance industry by marketing securities products), VLI products accounted for 6% of the market in 1991, and approximately 15% in 1993. The Equitable reported that it has a historical net rate of return on its common stock account of over 14% per year for the over 20 years it has marketed VLI products. ADVANTAGE OF VLI The key advantage of VLI is that the contract holder has the ability to direct his/her account value to the investment that they choose, limited only by the number of investment accounts. While VLI started with just two investment choices, they now have many choices, such as aggressive stock account, balanced funds, global funds, bond funds, high-yield bond funds, guaranteed interest accounts, zero-coupon accounts and real estate investment accounts. VLI has suffered higher expenses with the first types of VLI offered, however they have offered the highest net return available from a life insurance policy from 1976 to 1994 when invested in common stock funds The policy must be sold with a prospectus which divulges more information to the prospective purchaser than provided by other traditional insurance policies or by companies marketing traditional products. When VLI operates correctly, the policyowner will have life insurance protection, a “family” of mutual funds for investment purposes, and the abili ty to direct the investments within those funds, and there is no income tax liability as funds are moved within the contract. The policy shelters interest, dividends and capital gains from current income taxation. Plus: The sale of one fund and purchase of another within the contract is not a taxable event. The principal disadvantage to many people of the VLI is that once the VLI has been purchased, the policyowner may not increase or decrease the premium, as it is des igned be a level premium policy. Conversely, this can be an advantage as it is a method of “forced savings” and many people who purchase universal life policies with the flexible premium frequently use the flexibility as an excuse not to invest, with laps es as a result. The amount of life insurance is fixed at its minimum level as of the date of the purchase of the policy. If a policy lapses it may be reinstated as with other life insurance policies, with one exception: past-due premiums collected must not be less than 110% of the increase in cash value which is then immediately available after reinstatement. This is necessary as the reinstated policy contains values that assumed the policy had never lapsed, so the additional premium would reflect an in crease in the investment account during the lapse period. 80 Policy loans are available for the amount which equals 75% or more of the cash value at a stated interest or variable interest, rate. VLI policies are riskier to the policyowners than the traditio nal life insurance policies, and therefore are subject to more laws, rules and regulations and require more disclosure to the policyowner. If a person’s financial planning program is built around a highly liquid and still nearly risk-free plan, VLI is a poor substitute to traditional life insurance. U N I V E R S A L L I FE Historically, Universal Life (UL) was first mentioned as a concept in 1946 and then later in 1964 in actuarial articles in industry publications. Regardless of its actuarial origin, the first published concept of the modern UL was presented at a conference in 1975. The following year, a small company in Atlanta offered the first UL policy, but because of adverse tax problems, it discontinued sales. In 1979, E.F. Hutton Life (then Life of California) offered UL, and while it was welcomed with open arms by many, others loudly and continually voiced opinions that it was (1) bad for the companies because it made them into nothing but “banks,” (2) it was not good for the consumers as it was too difficult to understand, plus a multitude of other reasons, and (3) it was not good for the agent as the commissions were going to be lower and they were going to have to be under dual regulation (insurance and SEC). As they say, “timing is everything.” During the early 1980’s interest rates on newly invested funds were higher, much higher in many cases that those earned on established investment portfolios. This gave UL a head -start on the traditional cash-value products with their interest rates of 3 –3 ½ %. However, what goes up, must come down, and when interest rates declined, so did the popularity of UL. Universal Life policies offer flexibility: flexible premium payments and adjustable death benefits. After the first (minimum) payment, the polic yowner can pay whatever they wish into the policy, and at whatever time they wish, and in some cases, can skip paying altogether if the cash value can cover the premium charges. And to top it all off, the policyowner can adjust the death benefit with very little difficulty (with one caveat: if the death benefit increases, the insurer may ask for evidence of insurability). As happens so frequently, companies geared up for the expected bonanza of increased sales and premium income. But, again typically, many companies believed that since this product “sold it” and there was so much administrative cost (many projections and other required consumer information) that the agents should be able to live with lower commissions, especially since they would be selling so many policies. 81 The agents did not share the production hysteria of so many companies at that time and commissions were not dropped as much as the companies expected. Administrative expenses were higher than anticipated by many companies. As mentioned earlier in this text, UL policies are “transparent” since the policyowner can see exactly how the funds are distributed. They are furnished with many illustrations and examples of the fund distribution and expected returns, and while the policyowner cannot evaluate the adequacy of many of the assumptions, they certainly can see where the money goes. The principal difference between the CAWL and UL is that UL polices have neither fixed premiums nor fixed death benefits. The movement of funds in UL follows the following schedule (Note that the term “policy period” is used, instead of typical mode of payments, such as monthly, quarter, annual, etc. The reason is that this is a flexible contract and the premium paying period does not have to be a predetermined time period): The policyowner pays a minimum premium to the company. The company subtracts expense charges for the first policy period. (This is called “front-end loading” and some UL policies do not have this charge at this time.) The company then subtracts the mortality charge on the insured’s age and the policy’s net amount at risk. Premiums for any supplemental benefits (Accidental Death, etc.) are also subtracted. The remaining amount is the initial cash value of the policy. The cash value is credited with interest, which then becomes the end-ofperiod cash value. UL policies generally have high surrender charges. The cash value less the charge is the cash surrender value. The second policy period (usually this is a month) starts with t he previous cash value. The policyowner may (or may not) add additional premium at this time. If the previous period’s cash value is sufficient to cover the mortality and expenses charges (current) then no premium is necessary. However, if it is not sufficient, the policy lapses unless additional premiums are paid. For the second policy period, the cash value at the end of the first period is increased by any premium payment, and then reduced by the expense and mortality charge, increased again by interest at the current rate. This process continues until the policy lapses or surrenders. 82 DEATH BENEFITS An Adjustable Death Benefit When traditional types of life insurance are written with a certain death benefit (such as $100,000)-that face amount of the policy remains in effect as long as the policyowner pays the premium, but if no premium is paid, the insurance can terminate. One important feature of universal life policies is that the death benefit is adjustable -it could be $100,000 at the beginning of the policy period, but it might drop down to $50,000 at some point and later rise to $175,000. Within certain limitations, the policyowner controls these adjustments. With this adjustment feature, no new policy is needed to reflect the different amount of insurance; the adjustments are made to the existing policy. When the policyowner increases the death benefit, some insurers require proof that the insured person is still insurable-in good enough health to meet the insurer's standards. Death Benefit Op ti ons: At the onset of a universal life policy, the policyowner chooses one of two death benefit options: OPTION A The first choice, Option A, provides a level death benefit similar to traditional life insurance policies. This level benefit is stated in the policy, but the insured still has the option to increase it or decrease it during the policy period. When the death benefit is selected, the premium is determined, with part of it destined to pay for the insurance coverage (the death benefit) and p art to be deposited into the cash value account to earn interest. The policyowner pays this same premium regardless of whether the death benefit is increased or decreased during the policy period. (An exception is when the policyowner exercises the premium -paying flexibility of universal life, discussed later.) Thus, the policy provides a level death benefit and a cash value account that accumulates interest. It is important to differentiate between the death benefit -the insurance protection-and the cash value. For a universal life policy to receive the special Internal Revenue Code (IRC) tax considerations that apply to insurance policies, there must always be an amount at risk until the insured reaches age 95. (To reiterate, the amount at risk refers to the amount for which the insurer is at risk, and is the difference between the face amount [death benefit] of the policy and its cash value. If a policy with a $100,000 death benefit had cash values of $20,000, the amount at risk would be $80,000.) As the policyowner continues to pay premiums, the cash value increases while the amount at risk for the insurer decreases. In times when earnings are high, it would be possible for the cash value and the amount at risk to be nearly the same. 83 If the cash value begins to approach the amount of insurance, the death benefit must be raised. The Internal Revenue Code dictates a certain minimum amount at risk that must be maintained in order for the policy to continue to be treated as life insurance and not as an "investment.” This minimum amount is often referred to as the tax corridor or the risk corridor. OPTION B The second death benefit choice, Option B, provides for an ever -increasing death benefit that is made up not only of the amount of insurance, but also the amount of the cash value account. For example, if the original death benefit (at the onset of the policy) is $100,000 and the cash value is $45,000; when the insured dies, the beneficiary of the policy will receive a $145,000 death benefit. The insured's death at any point results in a death benefit equal to the $100,000 insurance (on this example policy) plus whatever the cash value is at the time of death. Because it is known from the beginning that the death benefit will increase, the premiums for Option B would be greater than for Option A so as to pay for the increasing amount of insurance protection. An individual could choose to pay the same premium for an Option B type of policy as for an Option A type policy, but the cash values would grow at a reduced rate. THE CASH VALUE ACCOUNT CHARGES TO THE ACCOUNT The Insurance Premium: Of each premium paid, a portion pays for the life insurance protection. This amount, based upon mortality rates for the particular individual, is typically taken as an adjustment to the cash value account once a month. Then, as previously discussed, another portion goes to the cash value account to draw interest. Loading: Not all of the remaining payment draws interest, however, because sales and administrative expenses must be paid. This charge is called a “load” or “loading.” Expenses may be deducted as front-end loads or back-end loads. In a front-end loaded policy, the insurer deducts a certain percentage from each premium payment before crediting it to the cash value account as discussed above. If the load is 6%, and the premium payment is $1,000, $60 would be deducted, leaving $940 for the cash value account. 84 Recent universal life policies are more often back -end loaded, which means the entire premium payment is deposited into the cash value account. The back -end loading comes into play if and when the policyowner performs certain transactions in the cash value account, such as surrendering the policy for its cash value. The advantage of back-end loaded policies is that the cash value account has more money to earn interest in the early years. The disadvantage is that some back -end loads are quite high. Some insurers offer the equivalent of a no-load arrangement, whereby the insurance company takes a percentage of current earnings, similar to no -load mutual funds. Other Charges: Insurers may also charge a flat fee to cover the cost of maintaining and servicing the policy. This may be an annual fee or a monthly fee. Some insurers have first year charges that apply in addition to all other policy charges. After the first year the policy is in force, these charges no longer apply. As examples, first year charges may be: Up to one dollar per thousand dollars of insurance coverage. No excess interest paid on the first $1,000 cash value, which in effect is a charge because that interest is lost to the policyowner. A flat monthly fee paid in addition to any other policy charges. Insurers provide the universal life policyowner with an annual stateme nt that shows exactly what transactions occurred and what charges were assessed during the year. SINGLE PREMIUM UNIVERSAL LIFE Like whole life policies, universal life insurance may be purchased with a single premium paid at the policy's inception. The benefits of paying a single large premium are the same as those for whole life and could be magnified as the result of the current interest rate paid on universal life cash values. Of course, all of the cautions about maintaining the risk corridor in a universal life policy must be observed. THE ADJUSTABLE PREMIUM Most universal life policies are purchased not with a single premium, but with periodic payments spread over a number of years. At the risk of being repetitive, it is important to remember that whereas traditional life insurance policies have a fixed level premium; payable on a regular schedule, universal life offers an adjustable or flexible premium. This feature permits the policyowner to raise, lower and even skip premiums. However, lowering or skipping premiums is possible only if enough cash value has accumulated to pay for the pure insurance costs and any administrative charges. If the cash value is not adequate, a payment must be made to keep the insurance in force. 85 THE IMPORTANCE OF PREMIUM FLEXIBILITY When a universal life policy goes into effect, a minimum level premium payment is established. For the policy to have any cash value, obviously, some premiums must be paid. As stated earlier, once the cash value grows adequately, thi s amount can be used to keep the insurance protection in force whether or not the policyowner pays additional premiums. As an illustration of the importance of flexible premiums, assume an individual purchased a universal life policy with a death benefit of $200,000 with an annual premium of $1,000 and several years later, the cash value grew to $15,000 . At this point, the policy owner’s first child enters college and the policyowner wants to skip the annual premium on the policy. The policyowner can do so because there is adequate cash value to pay for the insurance protection. (See the illustration on the next page.) The policyowner could continue to skip payments for several years while the cash value account takes care of the insurance protection, or the policyowner could make reduced premium payments. Of course, at some point, the cash value used to pay for the insurance protection could dwindle to the point that no additional funds would be available for insurance protection. At that point, the policyowner must make a payment or the insurance lapses-there is no more coverage. In addition, since the cash value account was reduced during the years, no premium payments are made; the policyowner could not rely upon those funds to be available for other purposes. INCREASING THE PREMIUM PAYMENT If the insured’s financial condition, in the above example improves, and the policyowner wants to rebuild the cash value account. Although the original insurance (minimum) premium was $1,000, the policyowner elects to pay $1,500 annually. By increasing the premium payments, the policyowner benefits because the cost of insurance protection remains the same, as the additional paid premium goes to the cash value account to earn interest (Assuming they have not increased the death benefit.) But remember, the so-called risk corridor-the IRS-dictated minimum of insurance protection to cash value-must be maintained in order for the cash value account to continue receiving favorable tax treatment. At any time, the policyowner can revert to the original premium payment amount or again stop paying premiums entirely. An Illustration of Adjustable Premium and Death Benefit illustrates one of many ways a universal life policyowner could adjust the premium and the death benefit over many years. Notice each adjustment can be made independent of the other; that is; the premium can be changed without affecting a death benefit and vice versa, as long as the cash value account is adequate to make the desired adjustment. A s ummary of the transactions follows the illustration. 86 At age 30, the insured purchases a universal life death benefit of $100,000 for a $500 annual premium. This coincides with the birth of a child. At $500 per year, the cash value grows moderately. When the insured is age 33, the policyowner receives a $1,000 windfall, which is deposited into the cash value account with the usual premium. At age 36 the policyowner withdraws $500, but continues to make level $500 payments and the death benefit remains at $100,000. At age 40, the insured increases the death benefit to $150,000 and begins making $900 premium payments. At age 42, the insured skips one premium payment, then resumes paying at age 43. At age 44, the policyowner increases the premium payment to $1,500 per year, retaining the $150,000 death benefit. At the insured's age 48, the child enters college. The insured withdraws $4,000 that year and the next year, while continuing premium payments. At ages 50 and 51, the policyowner withdraws $4,500 each year. At 52, after the child graduates from college the insured continues paying premiums and keeps the $150,000 death benefit, making no further withdrawals. At age 55, the insured lowers the premium payment in anticipation of retirement and drops the death benefit to $100,000. At age 60, the insured makes no more premium payments, and lowers the death benefit to $50,000. At that time, the cash value is sufficient so that no further premiums are required. USES FOR THE CASH VALUE ACCOUNT Withdrawals: Universal life policyowners are permitted to make withdrawals from the cash value account. Withdrawals of only a portion of the cash value (rather than all of it) are sometimes called partial surrenders because the policyowner is surrendering or giving up part of the policy. The withdrawal is made from the cash value account, so that portion of the cash value is surrendered. Most universal life policies also reduce the death benefit by the amount of the withdrawal. Withdrawal Charges: While this illustration shows the cash value account reduced to $3,000, in reality it would be reduced even more because of fees charged for the withdrawal. When a policy is back-end loaded, this is one of the situations where the expense loading applies. Front-end loaded and no-load policies are also likely to assess a charge for withdrawals. Taxation on Withdrawals: Policyowners who make partial withdrawals from cash value accounts may or may not have to pay taxes on the withdrawal, depending upon the circumstances. For policies at least 15 years old, the portion withdrawn is not taxed unless it is greater than the amount the policyowner has put into the policy. 87 For example, if premiums paid total $20,000 and the policyowner takes out $20,000, there is no tax due since $20,000 represents a return of capital on which the policyowner has already paid taxes. If the same policyowner withdraws $21,000, however, taxes are due on the $1,000, which is considered interest. Policies that have not yet been in force 15 years when a partial withdrawal is made, are subject to more complex rules dealing with the specific age of the policy, how much has been paid into the policy and the amount of the withdrawal. Paying and Receiving Interest: Because a withdrawal is not the same as a loan, the amount withdrawn does not have to be repaid, nor is any interest charged the policyowner for using the withdrawn sum. From the insurance company's viewpoint, withdrawal is simply a return of the policy owner’s money. Since the money is no longer in the policy's cash value account; no interest is earned on the amount withdrawn. Repaying Partial Withdrawal: The policyowner is permitted to return the amount withdrawn to the universal life cash value, but repayment does not restore the death benefit to its original level. The insurance company might permit the policyowner to restore the original death benefit, but usually will require proof that the insured is still in good health and insurable. In addition, whether or not the death benefit is restored, repayment of the withdrawal is considered to be a premium payment and is subject to whatever the insurer normally charges. Costs of Withdrawing and Repaying At first glance, partial withdrawals from a universal life policy might seem im mensely preferable to borrowing money-whether from an outside lending institution or from the policy itself-since no interest is charged and the policyowner can return the money to the policy later. However, careful consideration should be given to the ac tual costs of a withdrawal that will be repaid to the cash value account: • Fee paid to the insurer at withdrawal. • Reduction of the death benefit (cost to the survivors). • Loss of interest on the money while withdrawn. • Charges assessed by the insurer when the amount is returned to the cash value account. Even apart from the reduction in the death benefit, the other costs can be considerably higher in the long run than a loan. 88 CONSUMER APPLICATION About 10 years ago (when interest rates were higher), Jerome wanted to borrow $10,000 for the down payment on a new SUV and he did not want to use the auto dealers finance company as they charged 10% interest. He learned that he could borrow $10,000 from his Universal Life policy with only a surrender charge of $25. Jerome thought that was indeed a great deal! However, when he talked to his insurance agent about the procedures to get the money, the agent suggested he may want to reconsider. His “current interest rate” (at that time was 10%), so he would lose the 10% interest on the money that he would withdraw. When Jerome wanted to repay the $10,000, the front-end load would be 7% ($700). Since he would lose the 10% on the investment he would have received, and paid the loading of $700, his loan would actually cost him 17%. While the 10% (coincidentally for illustration purposes) he loses on his investment would wash with the 10% the finance company would charge, if he should die during the loan period, the amount of the loan would be subtracted from the death benefit. Comparing the other costs ($25 vs. $700) leads Jerome to look for other financing. In many cases, it will, indeed, be worthwhile from the policy owner’s point of view to make partial withdrawals. But policyowners need to be well informed about the cost of this decision. Total Withdrawals Universal life policyowners also may withdraw all of the cash value. However, as stated earlier, payment for the insurance protection is periodically taken from the cash value account. If the entire amount is withdrawn, no money is available to continue the insurance coverage. Therefore, the policyowner must make another premium payment to keep the insurance in force. Insurers are required to notify policyowners if the insurance protection becomes endangered. Some insurers charge a penalty if the policyowner removes all of the cash values in the early years of the policy. This typically involves taking back all or part of the excess interest earned during the previous 12 months. Poli cy Loan s Like other cash value life insurance, UL policies allow policy loans up to the cash value amount. Unlike a withdrawal, a loan is expected to be paid back and the policyowner pays interest, typically at a low rate relative to interest rates in the market place. While fixed interest rates are common, some insurers offer loans at variable rates, just as other lenders. The rates to be charged are printed in the policy. For cash values in the account that are drawing interest, insurers sometimes pay a lo wer rate on the amount borrowed against than on the amount not borrowed. For example, assume there is $10,000 in the cash value account. The policyowner borrows $6,000. The insurer might pay only its guarantee interest rate of 4% on the $6,000 borrowed, 89 but continue paying the current interest rate (guaranteed interest rate plus excess rate) of 8% on the remaining $4,000. Other insurers may treat a UL loan as a so-called wash loan because the interest rate the borrower pays and the interest rate the insurer pays on the cash value are the same, so each rate "washes out" or equalizes the other. For example suppose the current rate the insurer is paying on the cash value account is 7% and the policy loan rate 6%. With a wash loan, the 7% rate would be red uced to 6% to match the loan rate. V A R I A B L E U N I V E R S A L L I FE Variable Universal Life (VUL) is discussed in a little more detail than other types of policies because it is the most versatile of the life insurance products and is very popular. VUL is a policy that has the premium flexibility and policy adjustment features of universal life with the investment options of variable life, which helps to explain why this policy is so popular. From the viewpoint of a “contract,” a VUL policy is Universal Life as f lexible premiums, death benefit options (A and B) and the other standard provisions of a UL policy are present in a VUL policy. There is really only one big difference, and that is that of the variable nature of the account value of the policy. UL accoun t values are gathered in the insurance company’s general account and then credited with a guaranteed rate of return, or a higher value if justified by the interest rates of the insurer. VUL policyowners can place their cash value in any of a wide variety of separate accounts or subaccounts – including a fixed interest guarantee from the company’s general account. (At this point there would be no difference between a VUL and a UL policy, except that they could later change the investment option to a separa te account.) The accounting for the separate account unit value is the same as with variable life. FEATURES OF THE VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE POLICY Even though the features and the benefits are the same as with UL policies, with the flexibility of VLI in premiums, since it is now a “mixture” of the two policies, various features and benefits should be considered. As with any whole life plan, VUL policies provide lifetime insurance protection. For tax purposes, VUL is a type of life insurance, therefore net premiums goes into separate accounts where they earn a current rate of return, and earning accumulates on the same tax-advantaged basis as cash values of more traditional whole life policies. Note, however, that if the death benefit is to be increased, the policyowner can pay additional premiums, but if the amount is above a certain amount, evidence of insurability may be required or the policy may become a modified endowment 90 contract and lose its tax-advantaged basis. (A discussion of modified endowment contracts [MECs] appears after the discussion of features.) Separate accounts are accounts into which the policy owner’s funds are invested and are called “separate” because they are separate from the company’s funds. These funds earn a variable return. As with mutual funds, these funds provide returns or losses based upon the performance of the separate accounts, and they are NOT guaranteed by the insurer and the returns on the separate accounts are NOT guaranteed. Policyowners can transfer funds from one account to other accounts, and to do so without charge. The number of transfers is established by the contract, and usually is between 4 and 12 a year. VUL policies offer a multitude of account choices, often 10 or more, including a wide variety of stock accounts, multiple bond funds, managed funds and asset allocation funds. The cash value in a VUL policy is constructed of premiums paid, less fees charged, less periodic deductions for the cost of insurance, plus (or minus) returns generated by the individual policy owner’s accounts. Obviously, cash values are not guaranteed by the insurer and neither the insurer or the policyowner (or the agent) can accurately predict future earnings. Death benefits are the same as with Universal Life – Option A or Option B. While the insurers do not guarantee death benefits, many of the newer policies offer some protection against falling death benefits; some guarantee the death benefit to age 65. Other companies offer guaranteed death benefit riders (with an addi tional, but quite modest, charge), and this will guarantee that the policy will remain in force even if the cash value is zero. The expenses and charges of a VUL are “transparent” (or “unbundled” as some say) and take many forms. Most VUL policies have a system whereby deductions are taken from premiums as paid, and these deductions cover marketing costs, premium taxes and other expenses. First year deductions are shown to cover the marketing costs, which are accumulated the first year. Deductions are gu aranteed not to exceed an amount stated in the policy, but can be lower. VUL has a reputation of having high expenses charges when compared to UL or VLI and traditional policies, but recently policy expenses have decreased so it is more “cost -efficient.” A policyowner must be given a prospectus (and a buyers guide in many states) at some stage while the policy is being discussed with the prospective policyowner. The prospectus contains the specifics of the policy and the separate investment accounts and fees to be charged. The policyowner also receives an annual report, which provides the latest status of all policy transactions, including cash values and deductions. The VUL policy form contains most of the standard provisions and options available under traditional insurance policies, such as grace period, settlement options, policy loans, etc. 91 STANDARD PROVISIONS While most of the standard provisions of the VUL are the same as those of other life insurance policies, there are three provisions that differ, two that are unique to VUL, and certain riders are available. Grace Period Since the VUL is an “unbundled” policy, there really is no connection between the payment of the premium and the continuation of the coverage, but whether the policy continues is a function of the cash value. If the cash value is insufficient to maintain the cost of insurance, the policyowner will be so notified that a premium must be paid. From that date – date of notification – the required premium to keep the policy in force must be paid within 61 days or the policy will lapse. Full coverage remains in force during the 61 days. Reinstatement If a VUL policy should lapse, it may be reinstated at any time within a stated period of time (usually 2 years), subject to specified requirements and conditions: An application for reinstatement must be sent to the company, signed by the policyowner. The policy must not have been totally surrendered; i.e. it must not have been surrendered for its net cash surrender value. The company may require evidence of insurability, and if so, it must be provided to the company. Premiums which, with interest, are sufficient to keep the policy in force for a stipulated period of time (3 months usually). Free-Look Provision As required by law, after the policy is issued, the policyowner has a stipulated period of time (usually 10 days after receipt of the policy by the policyowner, or 45 days after the application has been signed) to return the policy to the insurer and receive a full refund of all premiums paid, no questions asked. In some states, the refund will reflect earnings or losses in the cash value accounts, due to investment(s) performance, for the period of time that the money was in the control of the insurer. Conversion Privilege Unique to VUL policies, the VUL allows policyowners to exchange the VUL for a comparable non-variable plan, or they may transfer all values in the subaccounts of the VUL to the general and fixed account within 24 months after issue of the VUL. The new policy, if the VUL is exchanged, will have the same effective date, same issue age and the same underwriting classification as the VUL. Annual Report At the time the policy is issued, it is impossible to project what the cash values will actually be because of the fluctuations of the investment accounts. The SEC also 92 requires “full-disclosure,” so for these reasons, the policyowner is sent an annual report that explains the current status of the policy, in full detail. The annual report will contain the following information: death benefit; total cash value, by account and by percentage allocated to each account; net cash surrender value; total premiums that were paid since the previous report; policy loans and interest charged on loans made during the previous ye ar, if any; partial surrenders made since the last report; and the transfers of funds among the accounts Semiannual reports are also sent to the policyowner, which show the 6 -month performance of the cash value accounts in which the funds of the policyown er has invested and a complete listing of all investments in the policy. Riders & Options Available The same options that are available for Universal Life and some traditional products are generally available for VUL policies. Following is a list of thos e that may be included: Waiver of Premium in case of disability; Cost of Living Riders (COLA) which may be either a rider or part of the policy and may or may not have a separate premium; Accidental Death Benefit; Accelerated Death Benefit; Term insurance rider; Family Insurance rider; and Guaranteed Insurability Rider (GIR), or option, which allows the increasing of the specified amount on each option date, without evidence of insurability and at standard rates. MODIFIED ENDOWMENT CONTRACTS Congress enacted the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988, commonly referred to as “TAMRA,” and which revised the definition of a “life insurance contract” for tax purposes. One of the principal purposes of this act was to discourage the sale and purchase of life insurance for investment purposes or as a tax shelter, and by doing so; they created a new class of insurance, known as modified endowment contracts or MECs. 93 Life insurance has traditionally had a very favorable tax treatment, but if the policies d o not meet the qualifications set forth in TAMRA, then the policyowners will not receive this favorable tax treatment. Basically, if the policyowner makes a loan or withdrawal from the policy, the amount that is loaned or withdrawn will be taxed first as ordinary income and then as return of premium – if there is a gain of more than premiums paid. In addition, there is a 10% penalty tax imposed on this amount if the policyowner is less than 59 ½ years old. So as not to be classified as an MEC, the policy must meet the “7-pay test” (discussed in detail later). Briefly, this states that if the total amount paid into a life insurance contract by the policyowner during its early years, exceeds the sum of the net level premiums that would have been payable to provide paid-up future benefits in seven years, then the policy is an MEC – and it can be an MEC at any time during the first 7 years – and it will remain an MEC during the duration of the policy. Sound complicated? It is! Therefore, the determination as to whether a policy is an MEC is the responsibility of the insurance company and its actuaries. The potential for abuse or misuse particularly exists with single -pay life insurance policies, limited pay policies and Universal Life policies, especiall y since many consumers purchase these policies for tax benefits instead of protection. Therefore, insurance companies and their producers must be aware of this law and its implications. Using a MEC Even though the modified endowment contract loses some of the tax advantages of a life insurance policy, it still retains the death benefit and in certain situations, this can be worked to the policyowners advantage. If the problem for the policyowner is Estate planning, a VUL MEC can be used to an advantage as the policyowner can pay one (or several) large (usually very large) premiums and then later contribute more premiums should the policyowner find it helpful or if the need should arise. The policy still has the security-based growth, and when the policyowner dies, the funds go directly to the beneficiaries without going through probate of the IRS first. The VUL becomes a valuable planning tool! However, no one should ever recommend such a plan without discussing the tax consequences to the prospect and if there is the slightest indication that the prospect does not completely understand the situation, and then it is imperative that they consult a tax professional. 94 TAXATION AND REGULATION The separate accounts within a VUL policy builds cash value within a life insurance policy, therefore a VUL receives the same favorable tax treatment as other cash value life insurance policies. Even though it is regulated as a Security, it still retain s its originality as a life insurance policy for taxation purposes. Obviously, premiums are not tax deductible. Cash values accumulate free of current income taxes (but the legal guideline corridor ratio between cash value and death benefit must be maintained within the policy). Death benefit proceeds are tax-free, and lump-sum benefits paid to a beneficiary are excluded from the beneficiary’s gross income for tax purposes. Policy loans are viewed as a debt of the policyowner, and not as income or a t axable distribution. Interest paid on a loan (for non-business purposes) is not tax deductible. Also, if a policy fails the “7-pay test” it then becomes an “MEC” and loans and withdrawals are then subject to current income taxes plus a 10% penalty if the policyowner is under age 59 ½. (See discussions of modified endowment contracts, MECs.) In some cases, surrenders and withdrawals and the right to change death benefits options, can have tax consequences. For instance, upon total surrender, any amount received by the policyowner that is in excess of the total premiums paid into the policy, is treated as ordinary income and is taxed as such. In total, taxation of the VUL has created a very appealing product too many persons, particularly those who are in a higher tax bracket. As an example, individual life insurance doubled from 1986 to 1996, but over the same period of time, variable life insurance (including VUL) grew from approximately $65 billion, to $591 billion. In order for a VUL policy to meet the definition of an insurance contract and obtain the favorable tax treatment, there are three tests that must be met: 1. Cash Value Accumulation Test When the cash value of a permanent life insurance policy exceeds the single premium that would pay for all future benefits, at that point the policy no longer meets the IRS definition of life insurance. If a policy does not meet this cash value accumulation test, the policy is “disqualified,” with the disqualification retroactive to the policy issue date. All income credited to that policy becomes taxable to the policyowner. 95 Since the insured or the insurance company’s producers do not have access to the mortality tables and the present value tables necessary to make this “test,” the insurance company’s home office will provide the necessary expertise to make sure that the policy meets the test and is considered as life insurance. 2. The Corridor Test All VUL contracts contain a provision that defines the minimum of pure insurance protection in comparison to the cash value amount. This minimum amount, technically guideline minimum sum insured, is the amount that is necessary to prevent the policy from violating the IRS Corridor rules. To further make this complicated, the IRS considers the minimum sum insured by using a published ratio between the face amount of the policy and its cash value. (See table below) For example, for those under age 40, the death benefit must be 250 percent as great as the cash value at that age. The ratio decreases each ye ar, eventually reaching 100 percent around age 95, at which time it is said to “mature.” In the previous discussion of Universal Life, the illustrations show how the face amount increases after the cash value grows to a certain point, and after that point , the “amount at risk” continues to grow, with the “corridor” between the cash value and the death benefit. The reason for the corridor is that if a policy matures before age 95, under the IRS Code it is no longer considered as life insurance. So, in ord er to maintain this ratio, insurance companies reserve the right to refuse additional payments of premium if they would cause the cash value to increase beyond the upper limits relative to the death benefit. If the policy fails to meet the corridor test in any year, the policy is disqualified from inception and all income credited to that policy becomes taxable income to the policyowner. 3. The Seven-pay Test Another test! However, if a policy fails the 7-pay test, it still remains as a life insurance policy, even though it loses the tax advantages of policy loans and withdrawals. This has been mentioned previously, during the discussion of MECs. Basically, the test considers that if the total amount a policyowner pays into a life insurance policy during its first years, exceeds the sum of the net level premiums that would have been payable to provide paid-up future benefits in 7 years, then the policy is a MEC. Once a policy is an MEC, it will always be an MEC. And, to repeat the earlier discussion of MECs, if the policyowner receives any amount from a loan or withdrawal, that amount is taxed first as ordinary income, then as return of premium. Plus the 10% penalty if the policyowner is under age 59 ½ One other point on taxation of VULs, if interest accrues after a date of death because of a delay in settlement, the interest may be taxable. If the interest -only settlement option 96 is chosen, the tax exclusion does not apply, and it does not apply to any option selected by the beneficiary. CORRIDOR RATIO Ratio of Face Amount to Cash Value in order to meet the Corridor Test Age Percentage Age Percentage Through 40 250% 60 130% 41 243% 61 128% 42 236% 62 126% 43 229% 63 124% 44 222% 64 122% 45 215% 65 120% 46 209% 66 119% 47 203% 67 118% 48 197% 68 117% 49 191% 69 116% 50 185% 70 115% 51 178% 71 113% 52 171% 72 111% 53 164% 73 109% 54 157% 74 107% 55 150% 75 thru 90 105% 56 146% 91 104% 57 142% 92 103% 58 138% 93 102% 59 134% 94 101% 95 100% 97 NASD CONDUCT RULES An outline of the NASD Conduct Rules was indicated earlier. At this point, it would be advantageous to discuss some of those rules in a little more detail, as they are very important to the marketing of Variable Universal Life. Advertisements and all sales literature must not attempt to mislead investors, in any fashion or in any way, and must be filed with the proper department of the NASD. Any discussions or communications with customers or potential customers regarding securities must be done in good faith, which means that there must not be any misleading information, omission of key information, exaggeration or other such guarantees, particular when comparing funds or accounts. Any recommendation given must be reasonable, and if the representative has an interest in any security’s or product’s success, this interest mu st be fully disclosed. The firm or the individual representative may not advertise in any other identity or name, or anonymously, and the firm must display their name prominently on all advertising and sales literature. If the product’s name does not adequately identify it as a variable life insurance product, the representative must fully describe what the product is. Further, an agent should never suggest that VUL policies or their separate accounts are mutual funds. As explained earlier, every prospect must be furnished a prospectus, either at the time of the first presentation, or mailed to the prospect in advance. Under no circumstances should the agent suggest, or even imply that the any variable product, including VUL, is a “short-term” or “liquid” investment. Obviously, the agent must be extremely careful about representing as to what is “guaranteed” and as to what is not, under a VUL or other variable product. Even though separate accounts are, for the most part, patterned after mutual funds – an agent must not represent or indicate that the separate accounts are mutual funds. However, it is deemed proper to use the experience of a mutual fund invested in the same products as the separate account, so as to be shown what did occur with the mutual fund. ILLUSTRATIONS Because the variable products are rather complex and the outcomes are not readily and accurately forecast without considerable explanation and assumptions, it is extremely difficult to describe to the average consumer exactly how a VUL fu nctions. However, the life insurance industry has a checkered past in using illustrations as a sales tool, so the insurer’s representative or agent must be extremely careful and must always tell the prospect that all illustrations are hypothetical and bas ed on assumptions, and are certainly not a guarantee of cash value accumulations. A statement to the effect that the 98 prospect understands that the illustrations are not guarantees, etc., are required to be signed by the prospect by some insurers as a precaution. Illustrations may use any combination of returns up to a maximum gross rate of 12 percent, but only if the present market conditions warrant such expectations and an illustration with a “0” return is also provided. The major difficulty suffered by insurers today with existing blocks of Universal and other interest -sensitive life products is that the interest rates have declined recently, to levels beyond the comprehension of most people just a few years ago. Many illustrations were shown with a return of a level 10% interest rate. All illustrations must show that separate account returns are what determines the cash values as well as the death benefits, and they must show maximum mortality and expense charges. It is NOT appropriate to compare one policy to another based on hypothetical performances. Further, a hypothetical illustration can only show the relationship between the cash value and the death benefit value, not whether it is “better” than another policy. Illustrations comparing VUL to the “buy term and invest the difference” strategy is considered as appropriate, provided that the hypothetical returns are identical and other such stipulations are met. SPECIAL NASD CONDUCT RULES REGARDING VARIABLE CONTRACTS Variable contracts have special rules as part of the NASD rules and they apply mostly to the construction of the policy and not specifically to agent’s conduct. Obviously, when the values of a contract can change daily, it is necessary that the value must be determined at a specific time, in this case when the payments have been received - they are considered to have been received when the application has been received. This further emphasizes that all applications and premiums must be submitted to the insurance company’s home office promptly. A representative may not sell contracts through another broker -dealer unless the other broker-dealer is also a member of the NASD. This also means that an agent cannot sell a product that his broker-dealer is not licensed to sell or does not have a valid sales agreement. Sales charges may not be excessive and the NASD Rules set forth what is considered as “excessive.” When a sales charge has multiple payments, they cannot exceed 8.5% of the total payments due in the first 12 years of the contract or for total length if the contract length is less than 12 years. 99 If the contract has a single payment of the sales charge, the maximums are 8.5% of the first $25,000 (of the purchase payment); 7.5% of the next $25,000; and 6.5% for any amount over $50,000. Section 2300 of the Conduct Rules addresses “suitability” which is the recommending of products for customers only when the product suits the customer’s needs. This is addressed to some degree in the following section discussing the us es of VUL. USES FOR VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE “Suitability” under the NASD Rules is a difficult prerequisite because of the changing economic climate in the U.S. VUL can be “used” in many different ways and all the ways that it can be used, whether “suitable” or not for a particular situation, is beyond the scope of this text. A few of the uses for VUL are addressed below. A person does not need a variable insurance policy unless they need life insurance – obviously. Therefore, those who have legitimate life insurance needs can usually benefit from VUL. Those that choose VUL are generally those with above -average incomes. VUL is an important vehicle for those who use insurance to build or transfer their estates. Life insurance is the best vehicle for transferring wealth with fewer hurdles, and the VUL product allows them to transfer their business interests to family members or to business partners. The VUL allows an insured to reduce (or skip) premiums when cash flow of the insured is reduced, and to channel excess dollars into the plan where earnings will be tax deferred. For an executive bonus plans, the VUL allows more flexibility so that a bonus does not need to coincide with a fixed-premium schedule, and the employee can determine how much coverage they wish and how the cash value is to be invested. For buy-sell agreements, the potential of growing cash values and death benefits makes the VUL an attractive funding mechanism. As the business value changes, so can the coverage without having to lapse or create a new policy. Additional premium dollars can be put into the plan to help fund lifetime buyouts if desired. For split-dollar plans, by using VUL, the premium can be reduced in the early years because of the creation of an immediate cash value. And, when the employer receives values as repayment of cash-value matching-funds, these values can grow through investments that the employer selects. 100 VUL can also be used for deferred compensation. It has the advantage of an above-average accumulation of funds which helps the employer to meet the promise to pay future benefits. Since these agreements are generally renegotiated periodically, the coverage can be updated easily. If a person has securities or securities-based accounts, the VUL offers stability, and if a person already has life insurance, it would probably be better for them to add a VUL policy to their insurance portfolio, instead of surrendering old policies. THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF VUL Variable Universal Life has a variety of attractive features to consumers, but probably the most attractive feature is that of flexibility. As any good financial planner can attest, few financial plans continue in a “straight line,” but fluctuate as circumstances change as they always do. VUL gives the policyowner the ability to fluctuate or remain static, depending upon the situation. VUL is also noteworthy because of its ability to compensate for financial difficulties, as the policyowner can skip or reduce premiums if things get “t ight” financially, and there would be (usually) funds that would be available in case of an emergency. Policyowners not only control the amount and frequency of premium payments, but they also determine how the net premiums and cash values will be investe d Americans are becoming more and more sophisticated investors and appreciate the value of professional fund management. This professional fund management of the separate accounts is a very attractive feature, particularly if the individual has suffered through a period of making wrong choices in investments without professional guidance. When the overall financial and economic conditions change – as they have in early 2001 – the separate accounts can change to meet these changes as the policyowners will make their investment choices based upon their personal and present objectives and the current performance of the fund(s) that they choose, with the knowledge that they can change funds as the situation changes and can adjust to economic swings. CONSUMER APPLICATION Bill and Tracy are in their 20’s, with 2 young children and Tracy is staying home until the children are older, and then will return to her old job. At this time, finances are “tight” with Bill working as much overtime as possible. During this period of time, the need for life insurance is because if something should happen to Bill, Tracy would be left with the 2 children to raise. The VUL policy can meet that objective. 101 When Bill and Tracy enter their 30’s, Tracy returns to work, however they have since purchased a home so their financial needs are greater, and in addition, the costs of a college education continues to rise so they must start preparing for those expenses. The VUL policy will allow them to do both – increase the death benefit and at the same time, increase the cash value of the policy in anticipation of future expenses. While the increase in cash value helped the children get into college by paying initial tuition, etc., since both children will be in college at the same ti me, they will need funds and the discretionary income of Bill and Tracy is reduced drastically. Therefore, they reduce their premium payments during the college period. (Continued on next page) Now that they are both in there 40’s, the children have graduated and are on their own. They are both doing well in their jobs; they start thinking seriously about retirement. Their financial goals are changing so the death benefit of the VUL is not as important. Assuming their incomes rise and there are no layoffs or other financial setbacks, they will be able to pay higher premiums to generate higher cash values in anticipation of retirement. However, if during this period of time, there should be a financial setback, such as a job layoff because of a terrorist attach on the World Trade Center which created temporary economic problems (Bill works for an airlines), the VUL policy can be kept active and the premiums can be reduced as long as is financially needed. STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 5 1. 2. An insurance policy that is actually a whole life policy that provides a return that is limited to a portfolio of securities, is A. Universal life insurance. B. Equity Indexed Annuity. C. Variable life insurance. A Variable life insurance policy A. has fixed premiums and a minimum death benefit. B. is a risk free investment. C. is a combination of term insurance and a securities account. 102 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The sale of one fund and purchase of another within a Variable life insurance policy is A. a taxable event. B. not a taxable event. C. not permitted. With a Universal life insurance policy A. there are flexible premium payments. B. has no guaranteed death benefit. C. with adjustable death benefits, a new policy is needed to reflect the different amount of insurance. Universal life insurance policies A. usually are purchased with a single premium. B. like traditional life insurance policies require a fixed level premium payment. C. allows the policyowner to skip some premium payments. Withdrawals from a Universal life insurance policy are A. not permitted. B. called partial surrenders. C. do not effect the death benefit. A withdrawal from a Universal life insurance policy A. is treated the same or a loan from a traditional life policy. B. does not have to be repaid. C. can be repaid and the death benefit restored to it’s original level.. A total withdrawal of the cash value in a Universal life policy A. may cause the policy to lapse. B. cancels the death benefit of the policy. C. can be accomplished without costs to the policyowner. Variable Universal Life insurance policies A. can be sold by any life insurance agent. B. are flexible. C. do not require a prospectus. 103 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. A Variable Universal life policy A. can be exchanged for a comparable non-variable plan. B. does not have “riders” available. C. does not have a grace period because there is no connection between the payment of premium and the continuation of coverage. The Variable life insurance policy primarily is used to A. offset the effects of inflation. B. give stability to the interest earned in the life insurance policy. C. allow the policy owner the flexibility to vary the premium payments. The Variable Life insurance policy A. leaves the risk of investments to the insurance company. B. must be sold with a prospectus. C. allows the policyowner an opportunity to increase or decrease the premium. Will a Universal Life insurance policy A. the death benefit can change. B. the death benefit is fixed at a stated age, and a level premium is required. C. the insurance company can charge the death benefits. Most Universal Life insurance policies A. are purchased with a single premium. B. do not allow the policyowner to skip a premium payment. C. provide that of each premium paid, a portion pays for the life insurance protection. With a Variable Universal Life insurance policy A. the premiums are tax deductible. B. withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. C. the policyowner controls the amount and frequency of premiums payments. Answers to Chapter Five Study Questions 1C 2A 3B 4A 5C 6B 7B 8A 9B 104 10A 11A 12B 13A 14C 15C CHAPTER SIX - TAXATION OF LIFE INSURANC E Life insurance receives favorable tax treatment in the United States and in most other countries. This section will discuss some of the federal income, estate and gift tax treatments of life insurance. This is an ever-changing field, as evidenced by the enactment of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. This tax act impacts the estate tax laws in particular, and also income taxation of gift and generation skipping (GST) taxes. These laws have been published as this text is being completed, so while every attempt has been made to take these laws into consideration in this text, there can (and probably will be) changes or clarifications to these laws in the near future. This act is over 175 pages and being written in IRS format, it is expected that it will take some time before everyone concerned can feel competent and confident in the application of these tax changes. For those interested, the entire tax legislation can be obtained at http://www.house.gov/rules/1836cr.pdf . An excellent summary of pension provisions can be found at http://www.cigna.com/professional/pdf/CPA_0601.pdf Another excellent summary is presented by the Employee Benefits Ins. Assoc. (EBIA) at http://www.ebia.com.weekly/articles/401k010531TaxAct.html INCOME T AX PREMIUMS Premiums paid for life insurance policies and individually issued annuities are considered as a personal expense and are not income-tax deductible. With some limitations, contributions to a tax-qualified retirement program funded by annuities may be tax deductible, and premiums paid for medical expense and long -term-care insurance premiums are deductible to some degree. Premiums paid to fund life insurance policies which are payable to a charity may be deductible as charitable donations, and premiums paid for life insurance, annuities and health insurance under an alimony agreement, may be deductible. Premiums that are paid by employers for life insurance, health insurance and annuities for the benefit of their employees are usually deductible as a business expense. DEATH BENEFITS The Internal Revenue Code Section 101(a)(1) is the tax code that states that death benefits from life insurance policies are exempt from federal taxation, provided that the death of the insured caused the contract to mature. For instance, proceeds from an 105 annuity cash value or any other proceeds that are payable during the insured’s lifetime, do not qualify for this tax exemption. Death proceeds for the purpose of this code, includes the face amount of the policy, and any other insurance amounts, such as for accidental death, face amount of paid-up insurance or additional benefits because of a term rider. While this law seems straight-forward, there are exceptions. TRANSFER FOR VALUE RULE If a life insurance policy or any portion of a policy, is sold to another person, or transferred for consideration, the death benefits can lose the tax exemption. The amount that is taxed is derived by the formula: the excess of the gross death proceeds, over the consideration paid plus net premiums paid - would be taxable to the individual as ordinary income. CONSUMER APPLICATION Benny had a life insurance policy on his life for $100,000. He needed some cash for a down payment on a new SUV, so he sold the policy to his brother -in-law Sam, for $3,000. Nearly 10 years later, Benny passes on. By that time Sam had paid premiums of $12,000 (net of dividends). Sam would receive the death benefit of $100,000. Since the total amount Sam paid for the policy (initial investment of $3,000 plus $12,000 premiums) was $15,000, Sam would receive $15,000 tax free, but would have to pay taxes on $85,000. The death benefits collected because of a viatical settlement by a viatical firm, are subject to this rule. Note that this rule does not apply in certain situations, such as when the transfer is to a partner of the insured, a corporation of which the insured is an officer or stock holder, transfer of a policy to the insured (corporation purchased plan transferred to insured employee) or a gift or transfer to a tax-free corporate organization. IRC SECTION 7702 DEFINITION OF LIFE INSURANCE The IRC Code Section 7702 defines life insurance for the purpose of deciding if a policy qualifies for favorable tax treatment. In the 1970’s and 80’s, the tax-deferred savings that individuals could receive through life insurance, were accumulating at very high (at that time) interest rates. T he tax savings under these projections were substantial, so the Tax Equity and Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) produced a definition of insurance for flexible -premium products, and the taxation of annuities was changed to reduce the incentives for using annuities for short-term investment vehicles. 106 The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 expanded the TEFRA act, adding Section 7702, which provided a detailed definition of life insurance. (It also strengthened TEFRA rules on annuities used for a short-term investment). Failure of a life insurance policy to meet the definition of an insurance policy under Section 7702, results in the treatment of a life insurance policy as a combination of term insurance and a side fund (which is taxable). Universal life policies had their own problems. Traditional insurance policies had an actuarial relationship between the death benefits, the cash value and the premiums. However, some UL policies had cash values that were substantially more than the amount that would be actuarially required to fund future policy charges. Therefore, it was much more like an investment than life insurance (if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…). Congress rose to the task again, and mandated that for life insurance policies to b e considered as life insurance for tax reasons, they must be considered life insurance under the applicable state law. In addition, it must meet one of two tests: The cash-value accumulation test was applied mostly to traditional cash-value policies, and it required that the cash surrender value cannot at any time exceed the net single premium that would be required to fund future contract benefits. There were stipulations as to mortality tables and interest rate in the calculations. For universal life and other interest-sensitive policies, the policy must meet a guideline premium requirement and a cash value corridor requirement . (This is also discussed under the Interest Sensitive Life Insurance section.) There were stipulations as to mortality tables and interest rates in the calculations of the guideline premium (either guideline single premium or guideline level premium). The cash value requirement is met if the death benefit of the policy is at least equal to a stipulated percentage multiple of the cash value. Failure to meet these requirements means that the cash value will not be treated as a death proceed but the net amount at risk will meet the qualifications under Section 101(a)(1). OTHER CAUSES FOR PROCEEDS TO BE TAXED If there is no insurable interest at the time of policy issue, that makes the policy a “wager” and policy proceeds would be taxed as ordinary income. Life insurance death benefits received under a qualified pension or profit -sharing plan can create a taxable situation, as can policy proceeds received by a creditor on the insured/debtor’s life. Policy proceeds that are received as compensation (discussed under Business Uses of Life Insurance) or dividends from a corporation; received as alimony; or received as restitution for embezzled funds can be taxed. 107 Alternative Minimum Tax The Alternative Minimum Tax is discussed in the Business Uses of Life Insurance section as it affected death proceeds that are payable to a corporation. This tax was devised as a “catch-all” as it makes sure that no taxpayer with substantial income is able to avoid tax liability. Life insurance benefits that are received by a corporation, and any increase in the policy cash value, are items that can create an alternative minimum tax situation. NOTE: At the time this text was being prepared, Congress was seriously debating the repeal of the alternative minimum tax and while it will probably be passed in the House, the Senate may or may not pass it at this time. If this tax is repealed, references to this tax should just be ignored as a factor in this discussion. TAXES ON SETTLEMENT OPTIONS The favorable tax treatment of life insurance proceeds is not affected when settlement options are elected, with the exception that income taxes may be due on any interest paid on the proceeds. Therefore, under the interest option, interest received by the beneficiary is taxable as ordinary income. Under life income settlement options and installment options, every payment is considered to be comprised of principal and interest. The part that is considered return of principle is not taxed. Amounts that are more than the annual prorated principal are considered as interest and taxable interest. Under the fixed-period option, the amount held by the insurer is divided by the number of the installments within that fixed period, and the excess of each payment over this amount is considered as taxable interest. Under the life income settlement option, the amount held by the insurer is divided by the recipient’s li fe expectancy. The methods used to determine the “amount held by the insurer” is detailed and beyond the scope of this discussion. It is furnished to the policyowner or beneficiary by the insurer. TAXATION OF LIVING PROCEEDS “Living proceeds” include dividends, cash values, matured endowments, policy loans and accelerated death benefits. MODIFIED ENDOWMENT CONTRACT (MEC) The Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) has been discussed earlier in the Chapter on Interest Sensitive Life Insurance. To reiterate, a MEC is a life insurance policy that was issued after June 20, 1988, and meets the IRC Section 7702 definition of life insurance, but fails to meet the seven-pay test, or other test, as described earlier. The 108 IRC Code was amended because of the practice of many insurers to sell single-premium life insurance policies as a tax-deferred instrument, instead of providing protection against premature death. DIVIDENDS Dividends are usually considered a nontaxable return of excess premium. Exceptions are if the policy is an MEC (or fails to meet the IRS definition of life insurance), or if the dividends received (under a policy other than MEC) exceeds the total of the premiums paid, then this excess will constitute ordinary income. CASH VALUE The interest credited to a life insurance policy’s cash value is not taxable if the policy meets the IRS definition of a life insurance policy (which also applies to MECs) For a lump-sum cash value surrender payment on life policies, the cost recovery rule is invoked, whereby the amount to be included in the policyowners gross income after surrender is the excess of the gross proceeds received over the cost basis. The cost basis usually is the sum of paid premiums less the sum of any dividends received in cash (or credited against the premium). Gross proceeds are the amounts paid on surrender, including the cash value of paid-up additions and dividends accumulated at interest. Losses that may arise upon the surrender of a life insurance policy, usually cannot be deducted as a loss for tax purposes. SECTION 1035 POLICY EXCHANGES It is important to be familiar with Section 1035 (IRC Section 1035) exchanges as with fluctuations in interest rate and the development of new policies, policies are frequently being exchanged for other life insurance policies. If Section 1035 is not strictly applied, there can be important tax consequences. As important as this tax code is, it is relatively simple. To qualify for the Section 1035 policy exchange, there are three criteria: The exchange must be of A life insurance policy for another life insurance policy, endowment or annuity contract; An endowment for an annuity contract or another endowment of no greater maturity date that the replaced endowment; or An annuity for another annuity. 109 When a Section 1035 exchange occurs, any gain on the old policy is “rolled into” the new policy and there is no gain for tax purposes. The new policy’s cost basis is adjusted to include the basis of the old policy. As simplistic (comparatively speaking, considering other tax legislation) as this tax code is, there is not always a clear distinction between an exchange – and a surrender and purchase. However, as a result of several IRS “private letter rulings” it is accepted that the contract that will be replaced should be assigned to the replacing insurance company, without the policyowner actually receiving any surrender values. CONSUMER APPLICATION Bob has a life insurance policy that was issued in 1968, and the cash value grows at an astounding 3.5% and he has no flexibility. Therefore, his brother -in-law convinces him that he should replace his old policy with a new Variable Universal Life policy. Bob agrees, but notes that he has cash values of $23,000 in his old policy. Therefore he requests that the surrender values of $23,000 be sent directly to him and then he will determine how much he wants to pay for the new policy – after all, he needs a down payment for a new SUV. However, his brother-in-law points out that if he does that, the transfer will no longer be tax-protected under Section 1035, and he could have a sizeable taxable gain. MATURED ENDOWMENTS At one time, Endowment contracts were popular as a retirement -income vehicle. They are no longer popular, however there are many endo wments that are maturing. The proceeds are taxed the same as if the policy were surrendered, if the policy meets the IRC definition of a life insurance policy. (Note that some older policies have been “grandfathered” and while not meeting the definition, the cost recovery rule will apply). The cost basis is subtracted from the gross proceeds to arrive at the taxable income. POLICY LOANS Policyowners can obtain policy loans from a life insurance policy using the cash value as security. The interest rate that is charged is stated in the contract. Policy loans interest paid by individuals is not tax deductible, but interest paid on a policy that is owned by a business and covering the lives of key persons (officers and 20% owners) may be deductible, subject to certain conditions. Deductions must be only on loans on policies that cover key persons and the loan amount cannot be for more than $50,000 per insured individual. The key persons may not be less than 5, or the lesser of 5 percent of the total officers, or 20 individuals. This deduction does not work under the 4-in-7 exception wherein a deduction is allowed if no part of at least 4 of the first 7 annual premiums due on the policy is paid through borrowing either from the policy or from other sources. If, during the first 110 seven years, the borrowed amount exceeds more than 3 years premiums regardless of when the borrowing takes place, this test is “violated” Generally, taking a loan from an insurance policy does not create a taxable action. Of course if the contract is a MEC or an annuity, loans are taxable as income in proportion to the excess of the cash value exceeds the cost basis. There is a 10 percent penalty tax if the loan is taken out before the insured reached age 59 ½. Since policy loans reduce a policy’s cost basis, a policy with a large outstanding loan, the net cash surrender value, which is the cash surrender value less the loan, can be quite small. Therefore, if the policyowner surrendered the policy, the check could be for a smaller amount than expected. However, the owner could face an extremely large tax bill because of the negative cost basis. Unfortunately, many surrenders occur because the policyowner faces financial difficulties, and the addition of a large tax bill could be disastrous. ACCELERATED DEATH BENEFIT TAXATION The Accelerated Death Benefit, as discussed earlier, allows an insured to collect part or all of the death benefits if the insured is terminally ill (or chronically ill). There is a difference, as the accelerated death benefits paid in connection with a terminally ill insured will be treated as if the insured had died, so there is no taxation. Similar to a viatical settlement, a physician has to attest that the insured is expected to die within 24 months. ANNUITIES Annuities are not discussed in detail in this text, however it should be noted that for taxation purposes, generally speaking, interest credited to the cash values of individually owned annuities accumulate on a tax deferred basis. For taxat ion of annuity payments, the rules are the same as stated for settlement options. FE D E R A L E S T A T E T A X Life insurance proceeds can be subject to estate taxation. In addition, using life insurance for estate planning requires a knowledge of federal estate tax laws. The new 2001 tax act affects the estate taxation substantially, at least for the next 10 years (unless changed again). A later Chapter on Life Insurance in Financial and Estate Planning will detail the uses of insurance for planning purposes. The federal estate tax is the tax on a person’s right to transfer property on his/her death. It is calculated on the value of the property, and must be filed and estate taxes paid within nine months of the death of any US citizen or resident who leaves a gross estate 111 above a specified amount. This amount was $600,000 for many years, prior to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). (For details on EGTRRA 2001 go to page 113) In order to calculate the estate tax due, the first step is to measure the value of the gross estate, which is the value of all property or interests in property owned and/or controlled by the decedent. Next, allowable deductions such as funeral and administration expenses, debts of the decedent, bequests to charities and the surviving spouse, are determined, and subtracted from the gross estate to form the adjusted gross estate. To the taxable estate is added adjusted taxable gifts which then determines the tentative tax base. Then the appropriate tax rate is applied to the tentative tax base to form the tentative federal estate tax. From this tentative federal estate tax is subtracted certain gifts and other taxes paid, including the unified credit which is a tax credit that can be applied to offset estate and gift taxes. NOTE: Gift Tax Exemptions and Rates are identical to Estate Tax Exemptions and Rates, except in the exempt amount remains at $1,000,000 from 2002 to perpetuity(?), and the Rate in 2010 and thereafter is 35%. This is expl ained further later in the text. The IRC provides that the values of 4 classes of gifts must be included in the gross estate. 1. The value of certain gifts made by the decedent within 3 years of his or her death, is added back to the gross estate (Anticipation of death provision). 2. The value of gifts where there is a life interest retained, is added back to the gross estate. These are the type of gifts where the decedent gifted property to someone else, but retained (for life) the right to receive income fro m the property, to use the property or designate as to who will eventually receive the property or income from the property. 3. The value of gifts that take effect at death may be included in the gross estate. This is when property is given to someone, but they cannot take possession only when the donor dies. 4. Revocable gifts, wherein the decedent retained the power to alter, amend, revoke or terminate a gift, are included in the gross estate. Annuities If annuity benefits continue after death of the annuitant, the present value of the survivor benefits might be included in the gross estate. If the decedent paid NO part of the premium of the annuity, then the entire value of the survivor benefits are excluded from the gross estate. The cash value of an annuity during the accumulation period is 112 included in the decedent’s estate to the extent that the decedent made contribution to its purchase. Joint Owned Property For property held by 2 or more persons during the lifetime of the decedent, the decedent’s interest is included in the decedent’s gross estate. If the property is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship and the ownership interest passes automatically to the survivors in the case of the death of one of the owners, then 100% of the value of the property is included in the decedent’s estate, less the amount that the survivors contributed to the purchase of the property. CONSUMER APPLICATION Four golfing buddies decided to each invest in a small golf club repair and manufacturing business, and each person put in $100,000. Abe, the older of the golfers, made a hole-in-one and became so excited, he had a heart attack. In determining the value of Abe’s interest in the business, it was proven by the partnership papers that each person owned 25% of the business. The business had done much better than expected, and from the original $400,000 investment, the value was now $1 million. 25%, Abe’s percentage of the business, or $250,000, was included in his estate. Tenancy by the Entirety Property owned by spouses is a joint ownership that provides a right of survivorship. However, the property is considered to be owned 50% by each spouse, thus 50% of the property is included in the estate of the first spouse to die. Tenancy in Common This is a joint ownership where each member owns his/her share outright, therefore the decedent’s estate would include his/her proportionate share. Community Property In community property states, property acquired during marriage is the property of each marriage “community.” Upon the death of the first spouse to die, 50% of the property value is included automatically in the decedent’s estate, regardless of how much of the property was paid for by the decedent. Power of Appointment If an individual has the right to dispose of property that it not owned by the individual, this is called a general power of appointment and the value of that property is included in the gross estate If the individual has a general power of appointment and if the individual’s right to any of the property is limited by requiring the individual to meet certain standards, the property will not be included in the gross estate. 113 A special power of appointment is where the individual has the power to appoint another person other than the decedent, his estate or creditors to receive the property. In this situation, the property would not be included in the gross estate. CONSUMER APPLICATION Cecil Worth III is the recipient of a large trust established by his grandfather, under which he receives a lifetime income of $100,000 per year. Cecil has the power to withdraw all of part of the trust fund (trust corpus) during his lifetime. Cecil elects to receive only the income from the trust and he does not withdraw any of the trust fund. At Cecil’s demise, he would be considered to have a general power of appointment, and the entire value of the trust would be included in his estate. Had his grandfather set up the trust to pay Cecil $100,000 a year if he becomes an attorney and remains a member of the bar in good standing, then the value of the trust would NOT be included in his gross estate. If the grandfather had stipulated that Cecil could appoint others to receive property from the trust, for instance, Cecil appointed his son as beneficiary of the trus t if Cecil should precede his son in death, then the value of the trust would NOT be included in his gross estate. Life Insurance in the Gross Estate Life insurance is not included in the gross estate, unless the life insurance proceeds are payable to or for the benefit of the insured’s estate, or the insured possessed any incidents of ownership in the policy at the time of death. If the estate is the beneficiary, death proceeds are included in the gross estate even if the insured was not, in fact, the policyowner. An excellent reason why the beneficiary should never be the insured’s estate. It also points out why there should be sufficient contingent beneficiaries. The second part, incidents of ownership, is a little more difficult as the insured must n ot own ANY incidents of ownership – such as right to change beneficiary, surrender the policy, assign the policy, obtain policy loan, or any other policy right. Just the ownership of one of these policy rights makes the proceeds includible in the gross estate. If a policy is sold or transferred or given to another person by means of absolute assignment, then the proceeds would not be included in the gross estate. However, if the policy is a gift, and the gift is given within 3 years of death, it would be considered as a gift “in anticipation of death” and would not still be included in the gross estate. Taxable Estate From the gross estate, deductions as discussed earlier, plus unreimbursed losses, charitable transfers, and a special deduction for family-owned business are subtracted. 114 The marital deduction is perhaps the most important deduction. The value of property left to a surviving spouse may be deducted, and if all property is left to the spouse, the value of the estate is zero. However, only the property that would be included in the surviving spouse’s estate qualifies for the marital deduction, an interest in property only during the lifetime of the spouse would not qualify for the deduction. There are exceptions to this rule, provided the surviving spouse is entitled to a lifetime income payable from the property (must be paid at least annually): no one can give, or in any way divert, any part of the property to anyone except the spouse during the lifetime of the spouse; and the executor makes an irrevocable election to have the marital deduction apply. After certain adjustments, the Federal Estate Tax is determined by certain credits: 1. The tax laws permit a unified tax credit which is applied against estate and gift taxes on a dollar-to-dollar basis. 2. States levy their own forms of estate taxes and federal laws allow a credit for state taxes paid, subject to a maximum. This deduction will be phased out by 2005. (See later discussion) 3. Taxes paid on previous gifts can be taken as a credit against the estate tax. 4. If the decedent paid estate taxes and the heir dies shortly thereafter, part or all of the estate tax may be taken as a credit against the estate tax. GIFT TAX The gift tax is another “transfer tax” levied against a party that transfers property to another person. Where the estate tax comes into play after a person dies, the gift tax is applicable when a person is alive. A lifetime gift to an individual incurs a federal gift tax basically at the same rate as the estate tax as indicated earlier. The federal gift tax law is not designed for the usual holiday, birthday and other family gifts, and therefore there is an exclusion of $10,000 per person per year, by one person. For instance, a married couple could give $10,000 each to thei r son (total of $20,000) every year without paying a gift tax. The gift must be of a present interest, i.e. they must have possession of the property immediately instead of at some time later in the future. Gift splitting is when one spouse makes a gift to someone other than his spouse, it is considered as being one-half made by each spouse. The gift tax marital deduction allows for tax-free exchanges between spouses, and is allowed with no limit. Gifts of Insurance If the insured assigns any of his/her rights under the policy to another person, the taxability question depends upon whether the rights have been assigned for less than adequate compensation. The value of the policy for gift tax purposes is its market value, which is the cost of replacement. This value is determined by a rather technical 115 formula which basically is that the value of the gift is composed of the terminal reserve at the time of the gift plus the unearned premium. If the policy is a single premium policy or annuity, or a pai d-up policy or annuity, then the replacement cost is the single premium that an insurance company would charge for a comparable contract issued at the insured’s (or annuitant’s) attained age. If a person makes a gift of insurance premiums on a policy that the person does not own, then that premium is considered as a gift. Premiums paid by a beneficiary on a policy that he/she owns are not gifts. Life insurance proceeds are usually not considered as “gifts.” There can be an instance of the proceeds being a gift when one person owns the policy, another person is the insured, and yet another person is the beneficiary. In this case, the proceeds would be considered as a gift from the owner of the policy to the beneficiary. If a spouse owns a policy on the other spouse, and the children are beneficiaries, even though there is no intent to have a gift made, in effect there is a gift from the spouse that owns the policy to the children. GENERATION-SKIPPING TRANSFER TAX In order to “plug a hole” in the tax laws, the IRS created the generation-skipping transfer tax (GST), which is levied when property is transferred to persons who are two (or more) generations younger than the person transferring the property. The purpose is to keep very wealthy persons who attempt to avoid a generation of taxes by passing property to another generation (the “skip” generation). Life insurance death benefits can be subject to GST taxes if they are paid to one of the “skip” persons. This can be avoided by not including the death proceeds in the insured’s estate through the appropriate use of life insurance trusts (discussed in the following chapter). E CO NO MI C GRO W T H AND T AX RE L I E F RE CO N CIL IAT I O N ACT 2001 The EGTRRA of 2001 has made substantial changes in estate and gift taxat ion, and in the generation-skipping tax. P R I N C I PA L FE A T U R E S This tax act has many features that affect estate planning, however many people have (wrongly) assumed that since many of estate planning features are gone, they will not have to worry about trying to avoid probate, transferring their estate after death to the chosen heirs, protection of assets after death, etc. These can be considered as “non -tax” issues, and the tax act has no bearing on these factors and there is little change, if any, in estate planning to alleviate these concerns. 116 This act changes Estate and Generation Skipping Tax (GST) and rates, with the exempt amount presently of $675,000 increasing to $3,500,000 in 2009 and becoming unlimited in 2010. The tax rates decrease from the present 55% to 0% in 2010. But don’t applaud yet (the fat lady hasn’t sung) because the act itself expires on Jan. 1, 2010. There are no guarantees that Congress will renew the bill at that time. First, Tables showing the changes in Estate and GSP Tax Exemptions and rates. TABLE ONE Scheduled Changes in Estate and GST Tax Exemptions & Rates (Gift Taxes Not Included) Year Rate Exempt Amount 2001 55% 675,000* 2002 50% 1,000,000 2003 49% 1,000,000 2004 48% 1,500,000 2005 47% 1,500,000 2006 46% 2,000,000 2007 45% 2,000,000 2008 45% 2,000,000 2009 45% 3,500,000 2010 0% Unlimited 'Unchanged from prior law The top rate for estate and GST taxes decrease in a series of annual steps through 2007. INCREASE OF EXEMPTIONS The estate tax united credit exemptions and the generation skipping tax exemptions, increase to $3.5 million in 2009. The exempt amount is the value of the estate that is free of any estate taxes for the year that is shown. And, as stated earlier, this tax disappears totally in 2010. ESTATE AND GST TAX RATES The top rate for estate and GST taxes decrease through 2007. The percentage that is shown in the previous Table, is the maximum tax rate (estate or GST) for the year shown, and the minimum is still 37%. So, the amounts that hit the exempt amount will be taxed at 37%, and amounts of estates over that amount will be taxed at the rate shown. 117 REPEAL OF TAXES As mentioned earlier and often, estate taxes and GST taxes are repealed as of January 1, 2010. As Art Linkletter, well into his 80’s, recently stated, he now has reason to live for 10 more years, so that he can make sure that the money tha t he has worked so hard for, for so many years, can now go to the people that he wants it to go to, and not to the Federal Government. Most people with estates large enough to be concerned with estate planning, will second that with a resounding “Amen!” For the estate planner, this is a mixed blessing. There really is more need for an active estate planner now as thanks to the political and tax ramifications, estate planners should stay busy by frequent reviewing estate plans. GIFT TAX EXEMPTION AND RATES The Gift Tax unified credit exemption amount for lifetime gifts will increase to $1 million in 2002, and then it will stay there until changed by subsequent law. There is no “sunset” for gift taxes – they do not expire in 2010. However, as seen in the Table 2, gift tax rates will decrease through 2010 and the rate changes are the same as the estate and GST rate changes. However, the gift tax is not repealed in 2010 and a final rate is set at 35% in 2010. TABLE TWO Scheduled Changes in Gift Tax Exemptions and Rates Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010+ Rate 55% 50% 49% 48% 47% 46% 45% 45% 45% 35% Exempt Amount $ 675,000* 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000** * Unchanged from prior law ** Permanent – it is hoped. 118 STEP-UP BASIS IN ESTATES Starting in 2010, the step-up in basis in estates will be limited to a maximum of $1.3 million step-up in addition to the estate’s original basis when it is passed to a non spouse and $3 million if it is passed to a surviving spouse. Before 2010, the estate will have an unlimited step-up in basis. There are several rules and provisions set forth in this tax act, which are beyond the purview of this discussion. While the federal estate taxes are being phased out, the step -up in basis will be partially lost. CONSUMER APPLICATION Bertram had spent $500,000 for his property that would be included in his estate when he died. At his time of death, the estate was valued for fair market value, at $3.5 million, or an appreciation in the estate of $3 million. Since the estate was not left to a spouse, the additional step-up in basis allowed was only $1.3 million, therefore there was capital gain taxes due on $1,700,000. CONSUMER APPLICATION Franklin left his estate to his wife, his surviving spouse. Franklin had paid $500,000 for the property in the estate, but the estate had a fair market value of $3.5 mil lion when he died, so the estate had appreciated $3 million. Under the 2001 tax act, since it was left to the spouse, $3 million additional basis was allowed, therefore there was no capital gain. The 2001 tax act limits the step-up in basis by shifting the taxation from estate taxes to capital gains taxes for the larger and more valuable estates. The result of this is that this partial loss of step-up basis will create capital gains taxes which will be paid by many heirs. Remember that capital gains taxes only occur upon sale of property, so if inherited property is not sold, there are no capital gains taxes (at that time). The capital gains taxes will be created because heirs will want to sell the decedent’s real estate, investments and other such taxable assets. The estate will get the decedent’s basis in these assets, plus up to $1.3 million for non -spouses and $3 million for spouses. The practical effect is that an estate worth only $1.5 million could very well be subject to considerable capital gains taxes when the heirs sell the assets. 119 CREDIT FOR DEATH TAXES AT THE STATE LEVEL There are also scheduled changes in the size of the deduction allowed for state death taxes: TABLE THREE EGTRRA Changes in Size of Deduction Allowed for State Estate Taxes Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 & thereafter Loss of Deduction 25% 50% 75% 100% The federal credit given to estates for payment of the estate’s death taxes at the state level will be reduced as shown in the above table. As to how thi s will affect state death taxes, is anybody’s guess, as it is almost certain that some states will change their death tax laws soon, either to increase taxation or to better integrate with the new federal law. In some states, this will not make any difference in the total amount of estate taxes paid, but in others it will increase the amount of estate taxes paid. Some experts are predicting that states will find that since taxes are not being paid to the federal government at the same rate that they hav e been in the past, this will open the doors for politicians at the state level to see this as an opportunity to increase the state death taxes. After all, people are used to paying large death taxes, so they should not scream too loudly if the money goes to the state instead of the federal government. Anyway, the thinking of many politicians probably is that this would affect only the wealthiest citizens and there are not too many of them, and besides, they will not really be aware of it as they will be dead when their estate is plundered (taxed). DEDUCTION FOR FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS Presently, an estate where a family-owned business exists, has a total estate tax deduction of $1.3 million. This will be repealed, but since the total exempt amount is raised to $1.5 million in 2001, there is little effect, one way or the other. ANNUAL GIFT TAX EXCLUSION The present gift tax law remains the same, i.e., one can give a tax -free gift to another person of $10,000 each year, as can spouses. It is indexed for inflation, so this amount will increase by $500 increments to compensate for inflation. 120 After the year 2009, gift donors will be required to provide information about the gift property, such as fair market value and the basis of the gift. A donor who does not make such a report is subject to a penalty. CAPITAL GAINS EXEMPTION The $250,000 per spouse capital gains exemption on personal residences will be applied to the estate for the benefit of the heirs. If an estate, an heir or a qualified trust sells a decedent’s principal residence within three years of the decedent’s death, the seller will be able to use the two-out-of-five-year rule for the decedent’s use of the residence while still alive. Where it is applicable, the seller then can claim a capita l gain exclusion of $250,000, on top of any step-up in basis under the new tax act that may have been added to the residence’s original basis. STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 6 1. 2. 3. Premiums paid A. for life insurance are tax deductible. B. by an employer for group life insurance are income tax deductible. C. for a Variable life insurance policy are deductible except for the money going into the separate account. Death benefits A. from Term policies are treated differently by the Internal Revenue Code then from Whole life policies. B. collected because of a viatical settlement are tax exempt. C. from life insurance policies are usually exempt from federal taxation. When a beneficiary of a life insurance policy receives the death benefit A. as a lump sum the entire benefit is tax exempt. B. under an interest only settlement option, the proceeds are tax-free. C. under a life income settlement option all proceeds are taxed as ordinary income. 121 4. 5. 6. 7. Individual policyowners A. can borrow from their Term life insurance policies. B. can borrow from their Whole life insurance policies. C. can borrow from their Whole life insurance policies interest free. If there is an Accelerated Death Benefit provision in the life insurance policy A. the insured can collect the death benefit before death. B. and the insured collects the death benefit it is taxed as ordinary income. C. and the insured becomes disabled the insurance company will make the payments for him/her. The federal estate tax A. has been eliminated. B. must be paid on April 15 following the year of death. C. is a tax on a person’s right to transfer property at his/her death. Life insurance proceeds are A. always included in a decedent’s gross estate. B. included in the gross estate, if the estate is the beneficiary. C. taxable even if the beneficiary is an individual and not the estate. 8. The marital deduction A. applies to property left to a surviving spouse. B. applies even if the property would not be included in the surviving spouses estate. C. would apply to a life insurance policy whereby the spouse is beneficiary. 9. Gifts between spouses are tax free because of A. gift splitting. B. the gift tax marital deduction. C. the annual exclusion. 10. Under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 2001 A. income taxes are no longer applicable after 2010. B. the gift tax in the year 2010 will be zero. C. the estate tax decreases to 0% in 2010. 122 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. If a life insurance policy is sold or transferred A. the death benefits can loss the tax exemption. B. the beneficiary cannot be charged. C. the tax exemption, on the death benefit does not change. If the policyowner had no insurable interest in the insured, A. at the time of the insured’s death, the insurance company will not pay the death benefit. B. at the time the policy was issued, the death benefits will be taxed as ordinary income. C. when the insured died, the death benefits are taxable. If an individual borrows from their life insurance policy A. the loan is interest free. B. and pays interest on the loan, the interest is tax deductible. C. the loan is expected to be repaid. The Gift Tax A. rates are the same as Estate Tax rates. B. is imposed on all transfers of property, if there is no consideration paid to the donor. C. is payable by the donee, the one that received the property. Property owned by spouses jointly, with the right of survivorship is called A. tenancy by the Entirety. B. tenancy in Common. C. joint tenancy with the right of survivorship. Answers to Chapter Six Study Questions 1B 2C 3A 4B 5A 6C 7B 8A 9B 10C 123 11A 12B 13C 14A 15A CHAPTER SEVEN – LIFE INSURANCE IN FINANCIAL & ESTATE PLANNING Financial planning is the acquisition and employment of assets in order to maximize the return on these assets through (1) establishing financial planning objectives, (2) development of financial plans by which these objectives can be achieved, (3) establishing a budget by which funds can be allocated to the purchase of the financial assets, and (4) review, and if necessary, revise the financial plan to make certain that progress is being made toward the achievement of the planning objectives. A complete discussion of financial planning is beyond the scope of this text – it is a profession and many texts are available on just financial planning. However, life insurance plays an important role in financial and estate planning and needs to be discussed in this context. In fact, life insurance plays the most important part of the establishment of financial planning objectives. The goals of the financial plan would include the following: Maintaining the Standard of Living. Providing for basic needs (food, water, clothing, shelter) and discretionary items, such as automobiles , entertainment, vacations, etc. Providing funds for emergencies, one of the accomplishments of insurance. Protection against uncertainty of a financial loss, particularly premature death. Accumulation of wealth through investing, enjoying a reasonable ret urn on assets, eventually leading to financial independence. Estate planning which is the distribution of the invested assets held for the purpose of the accumulation of wealth in a tax efficient and effective manner. This is treated as a separate action, but factually, it is all part of financial planning. In the determination of a financial and/or estate plan, the “risks” involved in attempting to achieve the objectives must be carefully considered. In this sense, life insurance becomes a tool for risk management, as does property and casualty insurance for risk management of property because life insurance guarantees that an individual’s family and dependents or business, will not have to suffer the risk of financial loss in case of premature death of the individual. In accumulating wealth, the savings element of life insurance is an important tool in risk management. The costs of education continues to climb, and a premature death without insurance can cause a dependent child to lose the advantage of a college education, or the privilage of attending the college of their choice. In order to enjoy retirement, life insurance now offers a wide variety of fixed -value and variable investments which can assist in building up the retirement fund. After retirement, fixed or variable policies can provide tax -deferred investments not available in other investments. 124 Because of the tax deferral privileges of life insurance, taxes are minimized. More than just being a vehicle that pays a sum in case of premature death, life insurance is purchased usually for one (or more) of the following reasons: Replacing income lost by death of the wage-earner. Paying off an outstanding debt, such as home mortgage or auto payment, in case of the death of the person responsible for the debt. Creating savings that can be used for educational purposes or emergency fund, upon the death of the person who had been providing these funds. To replace the value of wealth that is given away or consumed during life and has not been replaced for the heirs. To pay death taxes, as discussed earlier in detail. Business purposes, for business continuation plans, key employee benefits and compensation packages for employees and officers. DETERMINING FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES Basically, financial objectives are either cash objectives, or income objectives. Cash Objectives It is relatively easy to determine cash objectives. Basically, they are the need to pay for outstanding obligations, such as mortgage, auto payment, credit card debts, etc., a nd the information on these amounts are readily available. Educational funds are a little more difficult, but assuming a rate of growth of tuition and other college costs, an approximation can be reached. Final expenses can be more easily estimated. Income Objectives This can be very technical and difficult, even though the best that can be expected is an approximation. First it must be determined how much money will be needed for the survivors, taking into consideration all sources of income, such as government or employee benefits. The changing of family responsibilities that naturally occur as the family ages, must be considered. Inflation, while quite low at this particular time, can create havoc with a financial plan that does not take it into c onsideration. The methodology used for life insurance planning is quite technical, although the purposes are straight-forward. The net income amounts are usually converted to a single-sum present value equivalent, taking into consideration the future i nterest growth. While the planning process is simple in concept, the assumptions that must be used to calculate future inflation and interest rates make the analysis quite complex and the technique is (way) beyond the scope of this text. The complexity of these determinations has created a market for computer programs and because there are so many assumptions that must be made, the computer programs 125 help with the “number-crunching”, and also it is a valuable tool for analyzing different scenarios. With the need to revise plans (particularly because of the new tax laws) periodic revisions can be more easily accomplished. ESTATE PLANNING Estate planning is concerned with the distribution of property at death, but it must be considered as an important part of the overall financial planning procedure. Life insurance plays an important part of estate planning as it can provide the necessary cash to pay estate tax and any other liabilities, and also fund the income needs of surviving family members. Life insurance is the primary asset of many estates, and consequently is a major source of family income after an estate owner dies. DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY AT DEATH Simply put, all property owned by an individual will pass to another at death - the method as to how it will pass is what makes the difference. Probate Probate is the most important method of passing property for individuals. Probate is the process of a court by which the Will of an individual is presented to the court, who then appoints someone to administer the affairs of the estate in accordance with a Will. If there is no Will, the property will pass to court or state law -stipulated persons. Nature of property ownership Property can pass because of the nature of the ownership, such as “joint tenancy with right of survivorship” would dictate that upon the death of one of the owners, the property would transfer to the other owner. Contract Property can pass by contract, and if contracts are established prior to death that call for payments at or after death, the property will pass outside the probate estate. Certain Trusts and life insurance contracts are the best known of these contracts. By Law By law, certain property can pass outside of probate, such as Social Security survivor benefits. WILLS Wills are extremely important for estate and financial planning. A Will is a legal declaration of an individual’s desires as to the disposition of their property on their death. Certain salient points should be considered in any discussion of Will s. A person who dies without a Will dies intestate. In that situation, the court decides how the property is to be distributed, and is based primarily on consanguinity (blood relationship) instead of the decedent’s desires. If there are no relatives, the n the property reverts to the state (escheats). 126 A Will gives the maker an opportunity to name the beneficiary and to name an executor. A Will permits implementing plans to save income, estate and gift taxes. Wills can authorize an executor to continue a business, or it can direct a sale. A Will is ambulatory, which means it does not take effect until the death of the testator (the person making the Will) but can be changed or revoked at any time. A change to a Will is called a codicil. A Will must meet legal and technical requirements. A Will must be kept in a safe and secure place. A Will must be in writing and executed according to state laws. A Will should not be confused with “Living Wills” which are legal instruments which state the individual’s desired as to the use of life-sustaining measures in case of terminal illness or serious incapacitation. TRUSTS A description of all types and applications of trusts is outside the scope of this text, but there are certain trusts that are common in estate planning, and a knowledge of how these trusts apply is important in determining the value of life insurance in these areas. BASIC TRUSTS When a living person creates the trust and transfers property to it, the trust is an inter vivos trust. Conversely, a trust created at death through a Will, is called a testamentary trust. A living trust (inter vivos) can be either revocable or irrevocable. With a revocable trust, the grantor (the person creating the trust) can change or terminate a trust whenever they wish. This is used, for example, to transfer property directly to beneficiaries outside of the probate estate. There is no income, estate or gift tax savings with a revocable trust. With an irrevocable trust, the grantor gives up all rights of ownership or control over the trust. While there can be a gift-taxable event using this type of trust, there could be income and estate savings applicable to the property or cash. Marital Trusts The marital deduction of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provides f or an unlimited deduction for property left to the surviving spouse, therefore everything can be left to the surviving spouse and there would be no estate tax. However, upon the death of the surviving spouse, the estate may be larger and more estate taxes may be due. 127 The actual creation of a marital trust may be unnecessary, however it can be used for investment management and administration purposes. Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust (QTIP) A property interest will usually not qualify for the marital deduction unless it is included in the surviving spouse’s gross estate and certain terminable interest property passing to a surviving spouse does not qualify for the marital deduction. However the QTIP trust can qualify for the marital deduction. The QTIP trust allows a decedent to provide for the surviving spouse during his/her lifetime, but at the same time, it allows for the decedent to direct the transfer of property to others without loss of the marital deduction. The main purpose of the Q TIP trust is usually used to make sure that if, after the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse’s remarriage will not result in the children of the first marriage receiving nothing from the estate. Bypass Trust A trust that is used for property that is not left to the surviving spouse in a QTIP trust, or not used for other bequests, taxes or expenses, is put into a second trust, a bypass trust) also known as a Credit Shelter trust, Nonmarital trust or Residuary trust). Frequently, the surviving spouse has the right to the income for life from the bypass trust. This allows the surviving spouse to use the decedent’s property during his/her lifetime, without having the residual trust included in that spouse’s estate for federal estate tax purposes. Trust for Minor Children A trust for periodic payments for the children’s education or other such use when they are old enough to handle the responsibility of the fund, is often used. Previously, the point was made that the annual exclusion is availabl e only for gifts of present interest. Therefore, the annual exclusion would not be available for a gift for a minor in trust if the funds were not available to the minor. This can be overcome using a Section 2503(c) trust which requires that the trustee has the discretion to distribute both principal and income; the beneficiaries are entitled to receive the principal of the trust when they reach age 21; and if any of the beneficiaries die before age 21, the child’s share of the assets would pass through to his/her estate. By using this trust, the $10,000 annual gift exclusion can be used and income can be accumulated until the child reaches age 21. With this type of a trust, gifts of life insurance policies in trust for minors should qualify as being of present interest if any policy value is used for their benefit. If the ownership of the policy vests at age 21, the policy value or proceeds would be included in the gross estate of the child if the child were to die prior to age 21. Another way to make these gifts is to take advantage of the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, wherein an adult is named custodian for the minor child and manages the 128 property, and distributes the property to the minor at age 21 (or 18, depending upon state law). Crummey Trust The Crummy trust (named after the first person to successfully use this trust) allows the annual exclusion to be available for gifts made to such a trust, provided the beneficiary(s) have a reasonable opportunity to demand distribution of the amounts contributed to the trust. The grantor makes a gift to the Crummey Trust, which is an irrevocable, living trust, and usually the beneficiaries are the grantor’s children or grandchildren. The beneficiary(s) are notified when property has been transferred to the trust, and they are also notified that they have a period of time (such as 60 or 90 days) to withdraw some portion of the transferred property. The fact that the beneficiary(s) has been given notice of the right to withdraw property at the same time that the property is transferred to the trust, is in effect, giving the property to the beneficiary(s) outright, and thus, qualifying for the $10,000 annual exclusion. Rarely, if ever, will the beneficiary(s) withdraw any funds, and after a short period (stated in the trust) of time, the beneficiary(s) powers lapse. According to law, a lapse will not be treated as a taxable gift from each beneficiary to all other beneficiaries, provided the amount is $5,000 or less. IRREVOCABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRUSTS The value of a life insurance policy for gift tax purposes, is the interpolated terminal reserve (definitely an actuarial calculation) plus any unearned premium, instead of the policy face amount, making it a very popular method of saving taxes. (What this me ans is that the reserves plus unearned premium is less than the face amount). Under the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT), an insurance policy on the life of the grantor is owned by the irrevocable living trust. If the grantor lives for more than 3 years after the trust has been established (so that “anticipation of death” is not considered), since all incidents of ownership are relinquished, the policy proceeds would not be part of the grantor’s taxable estate. If the policy was purchased by the trustee and at the discretion of the trustee, the threeyear waiting period is not required. The premiums are paid by the trustee either from the trust funds, or directly from the grantor. By using this trust, death proceeds can be invested or distributed to trust beneficiaries by methods not available under life insurance settlement options, therefore the proceeds are usually paid in a lump sum and the trustee is responsible for the disbursement of the proceeds according to requirements established by the grantor prior to his death. Also, by using a life insurance trust instead of a gift of life insurance outright, the $10,000 annual exclusion can be made for the policy, as well as for premiums paid on the policy by the donor. However, if the policy has been assigned to the trust, or when the premiums are paid on policies in the trust, the $10,000 annual exclusion may not be 129 available unless a Crummey provision is part of the trust agreement. Therefore, the gift of a policy in trust and future premium payments can be fully taxable gifts that are later added back to estate for estate tax purposes. There is no income tax savings if the policy insured either the donor or his/her spouse. Charitable Remainder Trusts A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) is a living and irrevocable, tax-exempt trust whereby the donor gives property to a charity, but reserves an income stream from the trust to himself (or someone else), with the residual trust amount (trust corpus), also called remainder interest, passed to a charity. The CRT is an excellent method of helping a charity and at the same time, save on transfer taxes. There are two types of CRT’s. The charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT), pays a fixed amount to the income beneficiary at least annually. The am ount is not changed during the lifetime of the trust and no additional assets may be contributed to a CRAT. The charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) pays a certain, fixed percentage of the fair market value of its assets to the income beneficiary, minimum annually. The assets of the trust are valued each year, so the income will vary accordingly. Additional contributions can be made to a CRUT. CONSUMER APPLICATION Ozzie wants to leave most of his assets to his church, Wesley Methodist, but he needs money to live on so he does not want to make a charitable contribution to the church at this time. Therefore, he establishes a charitable remainder trust, with Wesley as the beneficiary, but Ozzie would get income from the corpus each year. Ozzie has other assets tied to the stock market, so he has income the is pretty much inflation -free. Therefore, he elects a CRAT which would pay him a steady income, regardless of the market. Using Life Insurance with CRT Since, under a CRT, the grantor gives up the ownership and control of the property that is transferred to the CRT, while the CRT saves estate taxes, the heirs lose the value of the property, which is a disadvantage to many. Therefore, by establishing an irrevocable life insurance trust, with death benefits approximately equal to the value of the property that is transferred to the CRT, this problem can be solved. The premiums for the policy should be considerably below the income from the trust. If it is “structured” properly, the death benefits proceeds will not be included in the grantor’s gross estate. 130 USING TRUSTS UNDER EGTRRA 2001 It is interesting to review various approaches used by financial and estate planners since the law was enacted. It is quite evident that there has been a lot of thou ght gone into any recommendations as to how to approach estate planning by building on what has worked in the past, and still plan for more fluidity that was ever necessary before. Using a family trust seems to be a “given” but with certain peculiarities to apply for different situations as they arise. The trusts should be “grantor” trusts (where an individual places their own assets into the trust) and therefore any trust tax would not be applicable, or at the least, neutral. The trust should be set up so that it has a bypass provision (i.e. a trust which removes the assets from a surviving spouse’s estate, thereby excluding such assets from Federal Estate Tax upon the death or the surviving spouse). In effect, when the first spouse dies, the trustee can set up a new, irrevocable trust funded by either the decedent’s assets, or a sum of money that equals the assets. These assets would then be exempt from estate taxes and a step-up in basis, up to whatever the maximum is in the year that the deceased spouse dies. If this date is prior to 2010, there would be no federal estate taxes, and the step-up basis would be limited to $1.3 million. After 2010 there would be no federal estate taxes (assuming the law remains basically the same) and the step up basis would also be at $1.3 million. In either event, there would be state death taxes in some amount, probably. The trust should probably also have a Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust (Q TIP) (also called a “C” Trust) provision, which would allows the trustee to set up a new irrevocable trust to hold all, or some, of the decedent’s assets and these assets would not be included in the decedent’s taxable estate, but will be in the surviving spouse’s estate. Therefore, there are no estate taxes on the assets in the decedent’s estate, but are deemed to be in the surviving spouse’s estate. It makes no difference if the first spouse dies before or after 2010 because there will be no estate taxes on these assets as they are protected by being in the surviving spouse’s estate. However, if the first spouse dies in 2010 or later, the amount in this trust will get a step -up in basis of up to $3 million because assets have been technically transferred to the surviving spouse. The trustee should be given a lot of flexibility at the death of the first-to-die spouse, which will allow the trust to fund the trust – either the Q-TIP or Bypass – so as to achieve the minimum taxation from the state and federal governments. It has been pointed out by knowledgable professional estate planners that before this 2001 act, the By-pass provision would have been in the trust with specific instructions as to how much and when to place the assets into the trust. But with the complicated law with so many variables, it is not possible to determine with any degree of accuracy, exactly what is the best planning strategy. It could be that one could have either (or 131 both) a capital gains tax because of a step-up in basis, and an estate tax problem. This leaves three choices: 1. Fund only the By-pass trust. 2. Fund only the Q-TIP trust. 3. Fund both the By-pass and the Q-TIP trusts. Which choice will result in the least taxes? There is no way to know until one of the spouse’s dies. Therefore, the estate planner must plan for several cont ingencies, which could be more expensive to the estate owner because of the creation of trusts, which will be more complicated and more difficult to function properly after the death of the first spouse. Capital gains tax must be considered if the basis is substantial, particularly if it also considers the personal residence, but if there is little concern about capital gains taxes, the trust could be established with only the By-pass trust provision. (Refer to the section on the By-pass trust earlier described). A different estate planning problem arises if the estate is quite large and the exemption of $1.3 million of $3 million step-ups in basis would not apply. Then the vehicle of life insurance, in particular, would apply quite well. The death be nefit of the life insurance policy would provide the cash to pay the capital gains tax. REVIEW EXISTING ESTATE PLAN If the owner of the estate expects the estate to be worth at least $1 million by 2010 (or $2 million if married) or will be dead before that date, it would be an excellent idea to completely review the existing plans in view of the changes in the tax laws. When the estate owner estimates the worth of the estate – now and later – everything should be considered, including any assets he/she is liable to inherit, the amounts in pension plans, and even the value of the death benefit of the life insurance policies. The principal provisions that one should look for, are those that pertain to flexibility. The heirs or trustees must be able to take advantage of these new exceptions, the stepup in basis and the lower tax rates. Add to that the fact that no one knows what the tax laws will be when death strikes, and the importance of a good estate planner has gained considerably because of the new tax laws. As time goes on, there will be many bright, professional estate planners, who will fine tune the estate planning process to take advantage of not only the new tax laws, but also be prepared for changes which will inevitability occur. In the p olitical climate of the next few years where there is and will be more balance between the political parties in Washington, changing (“tinkering” or “improving” the tax act, depending upon which political party is doing the changing…) is almost a certainty. 132 THE EFFECT OF THE EXPIRATION PROVISION What will happen if and when the act ceases to exist, is anybody’s guess. It is doubtful that the act will simply die, as there would be chaos as the courts, the government and regulatory bodies – federal and state – and the Internal Revenue Service should try to agree on what law was in effect. So will congress simply take the high road and simply extend it as it is? Given the history of most laws, particularly as complicated as this act, it will demand some changes along the way. “Fine-tuning” is what Congress call it. Nothing that the estate planner can anticipate in the planning process can be relied upon to be completely valid in the near future. This means that estates worth more than $1 million (per person) will need to have their plan reassessed every 2 or 3 years – or at least until there is a modicum of stability in the system so the process of long -term planning will be legitimate. THE EFFECT OF DYING UNDER THE TAX ACT For those who will probably not live past the year 2009, the process of estate planning for the various death taxes, should remain about the same as they have been for several years. Some amount of federal estate taxes will be paid by the estates through 2009, as well as state death taxes. In addition, the full step-up in basis will still be around through 2009, lending a stabilizing effect to typical estate planning. Now comes the “iffy” part. It is fair to say that the earlier that the owner of an estate dies during the period between 2001 and 2009, the more likely it is that the estate will have to pay estate taxes, and the higher that rate will be. If, for example, the client has a short life expectancy, certain techniques will need to be applied to mitigate the effects of the estate taxes. These techniques will include, but is not limited to, family and QTIP trusts for married couples; irrevocable life insurance trusts to provide tax -free benefits to pay these estate taxes (just like today); using gifts, either the annual exclusion or the unified gift tax credit; annuities, which frequently reduce the size of the taxable estate; and of course, charitable giving, before the estate owner dies and after they die. It really comes down to planning an estate, with the major cha nge in death tax planning depending upon what the tax rate is when an individual dies. Who is to say that a younger person will live beyond 2010 when major changes in estate taxes will occur, or at a point between now and then, when the tax rates and excl usions are different. It must be remembered in estate planning, that even if the federal estate taxes expire in 2010, the step-up in basis will be partially lost, which will mean that capital gains taxes will be paid by heirs of estates as the larger estates shift from estate taxes to capital gains taxes under this 2001 act. Then with the likelihood that states will increase rates or reduce exemptions, will just add to the conclusion that it is necessary to create very 133 flexible plans for many people and these plans will be quite a bit more complicated that what was necessary in the past. THE ROLE OF LIFE INSURANCE WITH THE TAX ACT At least for another 8 years, life insurance will continue to be the most effective way of providing funds to pay estate taxes. But now the problem is that the ownership of life insurance must be structured so that at the death of the insured estate owner, the life insurance proceeds will not be subject to estate tax. This continues to be the primary reason to use life insurance in estate planning. If the estate tax is eliminated during the lifetime of the insured, then the game has changed. If the estate tax is eliminated, the benefit of the life insurance policy will be to provide the insured with lifetime income-tax free access to the cash value that can be used for other purposes. There are several methods that help to solve the problem of accumulating funds available from life insurance, if they are not needed to pay estate taxes. At this time, because of the complexity and newness of the tax code changes, these methods are not widely known. One example is that described in the following Consumer Application. CONSUMER APPLICATION Louis had an estate plan established, with provisions for a life insurance policy to pay the estate taxes. With the introduction of the 2001 tax laws, he became concerned as to what would happen if he survived to year 2010 and the policy proceeds were not needed as there would be no estate taxes. His estate planner and attorney suggeste d that he establish an irrevocable trust that would (1) remove from his taxable estate, the policy proceeds when he died, and at the same time, (2) Louis would have access to the cash values of the policy, income-tax free, during his lifetime. The trustee has the authority to make loans or withdrawals to the insured using the tax free proceeds from the policy. The trust has the provision that the trust is terminated if the present federal estate tax is repealed. NOTE: The establishment of a trust such as that illustrated in the above Consumers Application would require the services of an attorney. The trust as described above was developed by a tax attorney who has a copyright on that particular trust so details as to how this trust can be developed cannot be described in this text and is presented for illustrative purposesd only. Irrevocable life insurance trusts are certainly nothing new, however with the new tax act, starting in 2010 (unless the IRS makes an adverse ruling in the meantime) a transfe r of money or property to a trust will be treated as a taxable gift UNLESS the trust is treated as wholly owned by the donor of the trust (or donor’s spouse) under the grantor 134 trust provisions of the IRS Code. According to some tax specialists, this rule will stand, even if there are withdrawal powers in the “Crummey” trust. Whether this is a way that the IRS can finally do away with the Crummey trust, or not, the point remains that this area needs to be scrutinized by a good tax attorney if the Crummey trust is an important part of an existing estate plan. This new provision can obviously affect transfers of cash to be used to pay insurance premiums, to an irrevocable trust – unless the trust is treated as only by the donor (or donor’s spouse) under the provision of the IRS code. This law should be kept in mind when drafting any irrevocable insurance trusts. APPLICATION OF STEP-UP IN BASIS AFTER 2010 The $1.3 million as a step-up in basis (for single persons) who die - using discount rate of 7%, that would equate to $660,000 in total basis in today’s dollars - is the available step-up to members of the family heirs after the parent’s death. Therefore, when stocks, real estate and other assets are liquidated by the family member heirs after 2009, obviously there may be considerable federal capital gains taxes, not to mention state income taxes, that are due and payable. Considering life insurance because of its unique income tax situation during the lifetime of the insured and after death, should still be an important arrow in the quiver of the estate planner, as the income-tax free distribution during lifetime and at death will continue. Therefore cash value life insurance will be indispensable in avoiding the financial strain of federal capital gains taxes and state income taxes, regardless. The net gain in the value of life insurance when related to other and taxable forms of investing, will be approximately 25%, or to be more accurate, the total of the federal capital gains tax rate, plus the state income tax rate (if any). It is probable that because of the income tax basis step-up at death, the charitable remainder annuity trusts and unitrusts (CRAT & CRUT, discussed earlier) that are funded with securities or other assets that are highly appreciated in value, will be used in order to avoid the capital gains taxes when these assets are sold. So, as the charitable remainder trusts become more popular, the life insurance vehicle should become more popular as a means to replace wealth. In particular, after the estate tax is repealed, the life insurance policy is a great vehicle to be used to replace the wealth of the family. When a charitable remainder trust is used to create these income tax advantages, the family heirs will no longer benefit fr om the (current) estate tax law savings, which can amount to as much as 55% (when the charitable trust assets pass to the designated charity at the death of the trust donor or donor’s spouse). For example, at the present time, if a donor dies and leaves a substantial estate, for every dollar that the donor leaves to the family, (if the estate is in the 55% estate tax 135 bracket), elementary arithmetic shows that there is only 45 cents left for the family. Therefore, every dollar left to a charity would cost the family only 45 cents. The 45 cents is what is needed to be replaced by life insurance. When (if) the federal estate tax is repealed, it will cost the family a dollar for every dollar left to charity because the family will receive no estate tax be nefit as a result of the charitable gift, therefore a dollar of life insurance is needed to replace the dollar that goes to the charity. INCOME IN RESPECT TO A DECEDENT The Income in Respect to a Decedent (IRD) deduction enables the recipient(s) to dedu ct certain IRD items, such as benefits paid under qualified retirement plans and taxable IRAs which are subjected to both estate tax and after income tax following the owner’ death. If the federal estate tax is eliminated, this deduction will also be eli minated. If, for instance, the estate was in the 55% bracket and if the IRD recipient was in the 45% marginal income tax bracket (both state and federal) the benefit of the IRD would be approximately 25% (45% x 55% = 24.75% to be exact). The result of the estate tax repeal would, therefore, mean that proceeds of an IRA or other IRD benefits would be fully subject to ordinary income tax, even if the IRA assets would have been eligible for capital gain tax rate treatment if the assets would be held outside the IRA – which may exceed 40%. In summary, assuming that life insurance policy proceeds will always be exempt from income tax, there is no need for any IRD deductions of the proceeds. The recipients of IRD items, such as IRA distribution, will be subject to ordinary income tax under the new law and will, therefore, lose the income tax deduction which presently is worth up to 25%. SUMMARY OF BENEFITS OF LIFE INSURANCE FOR PLANNING It would be hard to argue against using life insurance for estate plan ning today, and even if the estate tax is repealed after 10 years, life insurance will still be a very valuable source of liquid funds. For maximum flexibility, irrevocable trusts which are designed to remove life insurance proceeds from the taxable estat e will allow the insured to take advantage of the income-tax free cash values if the policy is not needed to pay estate taxes, and will provide income-tax free proceeds for any purpose. When (and if) the estate tax repeal actually happens as planned, beca use of the new carryover income tax basis rule, the insured (and family) will benefit from the tax advantages offered by life insurance. In addition, as indicated earlier, they will benefit from the income tax advantages of life insurance as a result of t he repeal of the income tax deduction for estate taxes paid on income in respect of a decedent (IRD). 136 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 7 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Life Insurance A. is not used by Financial Planners. B. is never used in retirement planning. C. plays an important role in estate planning. One of the basic objectives looked at by a financial planner is A. cash objectives. B. what color car the client wishes to purchase. C. how to avoid income taxes. Estate planning is concerned with A. the accumulation of wealth to be used in retirement. B. maintaining the standard of living. C. with the distribution of property at death. A person who dies without a Will A. dies testate. B. dies intestate. C. leaves his/her property to the state. A “living will” A. is one that has been changed. B. leaves all property to a spouse tax-free. C. is a legal instrument, which states an individual’s desires as to the use of life sustaining measures. When a living person creates a Trust and transfers property to, A. it is an inter vivos trust. B. it is known as testamentary trust. C. the property must be real estate. 137 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. With a revocable trust A. the grantor cannot change the trust. B. the grantor can change the trust. C. only the beneficiary can change the trust. __________________ provision of the Internal Revenue Code allows for an unlimited deduction for property left to the surviving spouse. A. A business deduction. B. The life insurance deduction. C. The marital deduction. A living and irrevocable trust, wherein the donor gives property to a charity but receives income from the property for life, is called a A. Crummey trust. B. Bypass trust. C. Charitable Remainder trust. At least until the year 2010, _________________, will continue to be the most effective way of providing funds to pay estate taxes. A. the marital deduction. B. the gift tax exclusion. C. life insurance. A Will gives the maker the opportunity to A. name an executor. B. avoid probate. C. change the “beneficiary” on a life insurance policy. The grantor of a trust A. cannot be the trustee. B. can charge beneficiaries, if the trust is revocable. C. can avoid estate taxes, by using a revocable trust. 138 13. 14. 15. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 2001 (EGTRRA) A. eliminates income taxes in the year 2010. B. reduces the Gift Tax Rate to 35% in the year 2010. C. increases the Federal Estate Tax Rate and reduced the Federal Gift Tax Rate in the year 2010. Life insurance is usually purchased A. with a lump sum. B. to evade income taxes. C. to replace income lost by the death of the wage earner. Estate Planning deals with A. the distribution of an individual’s property at death. B. maintain a standard of living. C. the accumulation of wealth through investing. Answers to Chapter Seven Study Questions 1C 2A 3C 4B 5C 6A 7B 8C 9C 10C 139 11A 12B 13B 14C 15A CHAPTER EIGHT - BUSINESS USES OF LIFE INSURANCE Even though life insurance is generally purchased for personal or family purposes, it also fills a very important need of the business and industry community. This is an area requiring considerable expertise and there are very successful agents, brokers and insurance companies that specialize in this market. It is not an easy market to penetrate, as accountants and attorneys, in addition to senior officers of corporations, become involved in this process. Using life insurance for business purposes is technical and requires expertise, but those who are seriously involved in this importa nt market started “small”, such as with small businesses, and then as confidence and expertise grew, expanded into the larger firms. Business uses of life insurance can be categorized into three areas: 1. Business continuation 2. Key employee 3. Nonqualified executive benefits. BUSINESS CONTINUATION CLOSELY HELD FIRMS Almost 20% of the assets of the households in the U.S. are held in businesses that are privately held, and in most cases, family businesses. These are considered as closely held businesses. These businesses have unique characteristics, such as that the owners usually manage the firm and are usually owned by less than 10 individuals. For purposes of this discussion, the most important characteristic is that the ownership of the closely held business is usually not marketable. Therefore, the only ones who would be interested in purchasing the business upon the death of the principal would be other owners, employees, or competitors. In any event, the successor(s) could have a difficult time keeping the business going as lines of credit would have to be re established, and the ‘very important but difficult-to-measure asset’ of “good will” may be dissolved or decreased by the death of the original owner. The business stability and the continuation of the business following the death of the owner, or one of the owners, of a closely held corporation are highly important to the family of the deceased owner and the surviving owners, not to mention the employees. The principal types of closely held firms are 1. Sole Proprietorships, 2. Partnership, & 3. Closely-held Corporations. 140 SOLE PROPRIETORSHIPS As the name implies, a Sole Proprietorship is an (unincorporated) business owned by a single person; typically the owner also manages the business. The fact that it is owned and operated by a single person makes it a particularly “fragile” business because everything revolves around the owner. When a proprietor dies, the debts of the business become the debts of the estate as the law recognizes business and personal assets as one and the same in a sole proprietorship. The personal representative, or executor, of the proprietor is required to dispose of the business as quickly as possible. Life insurance can fund the disposition in several ways: If the business is transferred through a Will, the life insurance’s death benefit can be applied to satisfy the proprietor’s personal debts, business debts and estate taxes. If the executor or personal representative conducts a liquidation of the business, a death benefit of a life insurance policy can be used to reduce or eliminate any debt. This money can also be used as a source of working capital for interim financing to operate the business for a short period of time. If the business is to be transferred to an employee, or a child, the insurance funds can be used to finance the transfer. If the business is to be sold to a key employee through a buy-and-sell agreement (discussed later), the key employee usually has previously bought a life insurance policy on the sole proprietor and made the premium payments. The buy-and-sell agreement stipulates the formula to be used in valuing the business as well as other conditions of the sale. Upon the death of the proprietor and the sale of the business to the key employee(s), the proprietor’s estate receives the cash amount according to the buy-and-sell agreement, and the key employee(s) receives the deceased proprietor’s business. PARTNERSHIPS A partnership is a voluntary association of two or more individuals for the purpose o f conducting a business for profit as co-owners. There are two basic kinds of partnerships, (1) General partnership, where each partner is actively involved in the business and each are liable for the partnership obligations; and (2) Limited partnership has one (or more) general partners, and one or more limited partners who are not involved in the management and are liable for obligations of the partnership only to the extent of their investment in the partnership. The most important rule of partnership law affecting the area of life insurance is: upon the death of a general partner, the partnership is dissolved, and in the absence of contrary arrangements, the surviving partners become liquidating trustees. 141 The surviving partners must not only liquidate the business; they also must pay to the estate of the deceased, a “fair” share of the liquidated business. Unfortunately, liquidation of a business nearly always results in the assets of the business shrinking as most of the assets will only bring a portion of the actual value. Most importantly to the survivors, is the method of making a living has just disappeared. CONSUMER APPLICATION Olivia Kern and Elaine O'Connell were co-owners of a successful 10-year-old retail business. When Elaine was tragically killed in a car accident, Olivia suffere d a double loss: first, the death of her dear friend and second, the loss of her business. Why her business? While Elaine's husband and daughter both wanted Elaine's business to continue after her death, they were forced, for financial reasons, to use Ela ine's share of the business income, causing the store to close. Neither of Elaine's survivors were equipped to contribute financially to the business nor were they equipped by training or personality to help run the business. Seeing the financial problems her friend's family was having, Olivia immediately began sharing profits with them and attempting to add to that amount to buy Elaine's half of the business from her heirs. These kind and thoughtful actions unfortunately resulted in cash flow problems for the business and finally, the financial burden forced Olivia to go out of business altogether. Olivia's loss was rooted in the lack of capital to purchase Elaine's half ownership from the survivors when Elaine died Often, partners believe that if one partner dies, the surviving partner will simply buy out the interests of the estate. This is overly-simplistic because the surviving partner will have to come up with the money, and even if that is possible, they must pay a fair price. This brings up another problem, which is that the surviving partner has a fiduciary relationship with the estate of the deceased and other surviving partners (if any), and in some states, they are not allowed to purchase the property because it amounts to a “trustee purchasing trust property.” BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS Because of the reasons as listed above, it is very common for partnerships to enter into a buy-and-sell agreement. This type of arrangement has been mentioned earlier, and can be used for sole partnerships, partnerships and close corporations in which the business interests of a deceased or disabled proprietor, partner or shareholder are sold, according to a predetermined formula to the remaining members of the business. As an example, for a business with three partners, the agreement could be that upon the death of one partner, the two survivors agree to purchase, and the deceased’s partner’s estate has agreed to sell the interest of that partner, according to a predetermined formula for valuing the partnership, to the survivors. The funds for buying out the deceased partner’s interest are usually provided by life insurance policies, with each partner purchasing a policy on the other partner(s). Each is the owner and beneficiary of the policies purchased on the other person. 142 For a “professional partnership” – usually for attorneys and physicians – the business continuation agreement is a little different. There is usually a provision whereby the income to the deceased partner’s estate or heirs continue for a specified period of time, and with the amount of the income based on a profit -sharing agreement. Frequently, there is also a separate agreement providing for the sale of the deceased partner’s business assets. There are two types of buy-and-sell agreements, entity and cross purchase. Under the entity type of buy-and-sell agreement, the business itself is obligated to buy out the ownership of a deceased (or disabled) partner, with each partner binding his/her estate to sell if the partner is the first to die. Under the cross-purchase agreement, the agreement is between the business owners themselves as each owner binds his/her estate to sell his/her business interests to the surviving owners; and each surviving owner binds himself/herself to buy the inte rest of the deceased owner. As indicated above, life insurance is commonly used to fund these arrangements. Entity Approach Under the entity approach, the partnership itself applies for, owns and is the beneficiary on each partner’s life. The death benefit of the policy should, in most cases, equal the value of the insured partner’s interest in the business. Cross-purchase Approach Under the cross-purchase approach, each partner applies for, owns and is beneficiary of a life insurance policy on each of the other business partners. The death benefits generally equal the agreed-upon value of the other partners’ interest in the business. TAXATION OF PARTNERSHIP BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS The taxation of life insurance proceeds used for partnership buy-and-sell agreements, is the same as individual personal insurance. Premiums are not deductible as a business expense, whether it was paid by the business or a partner. Death proceeds are normally income tax free. The cost basis for each surviving partner is increased by the proceeds received by the partnership in the case of the entity plan; and by the amount paid for the deceased partner’s interest under the cross-purchase plan. Life insurance death proceeds are not included in the gross estate of the insured unless the insured possesses any incidents of ownership in the policy, or the proceeds are payable, to or for the benefit of, the insured’s estate. Any death proceeds payable to the 143 partnership normally would increase the value of the partnership for estate tax purposes. The question of valuation of the business for estate tax purposes must be addressed if the value of the business is less than fair market value even if there is a value stated in the agreement. A value stated in the agreement will control if the agreement is a bona fide business transaction performed at “arm’s length” and is not a method of transferring property to the deceased’s family for less than adequate compensation. CLOSELY HELD CORPORATIONS A closely held corporation is usually held by a small number of people active in the business, and usually is not sold or transferred except for death or disability, or in case of major corporate restructuring. The difficulties involved when a shareholder dies are caused because of the very structure, i.e., the shareholders are usually its officers, they have an incentive to pay themselves salaries (salaries are tax deductible, dividends are not), and the BIG problem: there is no market for their stock. It will be noted that there is a significant similarity to a partnership situation, therefore a plan to retire a stockholder’s shares in case of death can be as important to shareholders, as for the owners of a sole proprietorship or partnership . Death of a Majority Stockholder A unique situation arises when the majority stockholder in a closely -held corporation dies (or is disabled). Many closed corporations (synonymous with closely-held corporation) are family owned with a principal stockholder, or the founder of the company, etc., is a majority stockholder. When this stockholder dies, the other stockholders may have to accept an adult heir into the company (everyone is aware of the hazards involved in a new majority stockholder), or perhaps they may have to pay dividends to the heir(s) which would be approximately the same as the salary of the majority stockholder had been receiving. If the stock of the deceased stockholder has been sold to an outside interest, the remaining stockholders may be forced to accept active management of someone they, at the very least, did not know. The only other alternative would be for the remaining stockholders to purchase the stock from the estate of the deceased stockholder. This may be impractical as th e remaining stockholders may not have sufficient funds to purchase the stock, they may not be able to agree on a fair price, and sometimes the heirs will refuse to sell. The alternatives to the heirs are not encouraging, and as a practical matter, the bes t they can hope for in most cases, is a reasonable percentage of the worth of the business. The remaining stockholders could possibly get what they can from their stock, and then take their talent and customers and start up a new business. 144 Death of a Minority Stockholder The death of a minority stockholder, or an equal stockholder (where everyone has the same percentage of shares) have serious problems also. The majority stockholders can force their will on the new minority stockholders, and at the ver y best, lawsuits can start flying all over the place – there are a lot of laws protecting minority stockholders. All this being said, the fact still remains that the minority stockholder’s heirs are not in a good situation as they own stock which was possibly subject to rather substantial state and federal estate taxes, but the stock has little, if any, marketability, as who would buy a minority interest in a closely-held corporation? Further, they will not receive any income from the stock as closed corporations rarely pay dividends (stockholders prefer salary). CORPORATE BUY-AND-SELL AGREEMENTS The entity (usually stock-redemption) or the cross-purchase agreements will work as well for close corporations as for partnerships. It would be repetitious to go through the procedures again, but it would be more important to have a frequent valuation of the stock and the agreement reviewed and changed when necessary. Using life insurance, each stockholder is insured for the value of the stock that they own, and the insurance is either owned by the stockholders or the corporation. Upon the death of the stockholder, benefits are used by either the stockholders or the corporation, and the business future of the survivors continues and the beneficiaries of the estate receive cash for their interest. Taxation of Corporate Buy-and-Sell Agreements Life insurance premiums are not tax deductible with the stock redemption or the cross purchase approach and proceeds are not taxable (except in some Minimum Tax situations). Increase in cash values are usually not taxable. If life insurance is owned by a corporation to fund an entity buy-out agreement and then at a later date it is decided to change to a cross-purchase agreement, the policies that are owned by the corporation can not be transferred directly to the shareholder (someone other than the insured) or the “transfer-for-value” rule may apply. This rule allows exceptions for transfers between partners and partnerships, but not between corporations to stockholders. It has sometimes been suggested that the stockholders also enter into a (side) partnership agreement because a transfer for value does not apply to partnerships. As with the partnership entity buy-and-sell agreements, the life insurance death benefits will not be included in the estate of a deceased stockholder (unless the stockholder had an incident of ownership in the policy or if the benefits were paid to or for the stockholder’s estate). 145 A full discussion of the Alternative minimum Tax (AMT) is outsi de the scope of this text, but it should be mentioned that with most modern cash -value policies, after a few years the annual increase in the cash value exceeds the net annual premium. In some cases this would trigger the AMT tax. If there is a possibili ty of this, the crosspurchase approach should be considered as the corporation is neither the owner or the beneficiary of the policies and the AMT tax could be avoided. NOTE: At the time this text was being prepared, Congress was seriously debating the repeal of the alternative minimum tax and while it will probably be passed in the House, the Senate may or may not pass it at this time. If this tax is repealed, references to this tax should just be ignored as a factor in this discussion. CROSS-PURCHASE vs. STOCK REDEMPTION AGREEMENTS TAXATION In determining the best type of agreement for tax purposes, it would depend upon the tax status of the corporation and the shareholders. If the corporation is in a lower tax bracket, the redemption plan would be best in most cases as the premium payments for the policies would take a smaller share of the corporation’s after-tax income, than it would take of the shareholders’ after-tax income. However, if the shareholders are in a lower tax bracket, the cross -purchase plan may be better because the premium payments would take less of the after -tax income of the shareholder than that of the corporation. With only two shareholders, there is little administrative difference in the two plans. However, if there are several shareholders, each shareholder would have to purchase a policy on each of the other shareholder’s lives. (To determine the number of policies that would be required, the formula is n(n-1) where “n” is the number of stockholders. If there were 6 stockholders, then 6(5) – or six, times [six less one =, or five] – would be 30 policies that would be needed). For tax purposes, with a stock-redemption plan, when the corporation buys the stock from the heir or estate of the deceased stockholder, the stock then becomes treasury stock and is no longer outstanding. The other stockholders now own a larger percentage of the shares outstanding, even though they maintain their original stock with no increase in cost basis – and even though they now each own a larger share of the corporation. However, as the ownership has increased and the cost basis remained the same, upon a subsequent sale, their taxable gain will have been increased. Under a cross-purchase plan, the remaining stockholders purchase the stock with their own money so they acquire an increase in basis that is equal to the purchase price of the new shares. Upon a subsequent sale, this new basis reduces the amount of any taxable gain realized by the selling shareholder. 146 These differences are important only if the stock is to be sold during their lifetime. Otherwise, at death the stock will have a stepped-up cost basis, so the net effect would be the same whether the ownership interest had increased by cross -purchase or entity agreements. CONSUMER APPLICATION COMPARISON OF TAX CONSEQUENCES OF CROSS-PURCHASE AND STOCK-REDEMPTION PLANS SITUATION: The Handi Corporation is owned by Jim, Bob and Ray in equal shares. Each stockholder originally put in $100,000 – their cost basis. The fair market value of Handi Corp. is $1,500,000. Each owner is insured under a life insurance policy for the value of their interest, $500,000. Jim is the first to die, and under the business continuation agreement, Bob and Ray each now own ½ of the corporation ($750,000 each). Bob retires, and sells his shares to Ray. EFFECTS OF THE STOCK-REDEMPTION PLAN Jim’s death: The corporation collects $500,000 and redeems his stock. The value of the business remains at $1,500,000. Bob and Ray’s ownership value now is $750,000 ea ch, each cost basis remains at $100,000. Bob retires: Bob has a living buyout when he sells his ownership to Ray. Bob has a capital gain of $650,000 ($750,000 less cost $100,000) If capital gains tax is 20%, taxes of $130,000 would be due on $650,000 gain Bob would realize net of $520,000. EFFECTS OF CROSS-PURCHASE PLAN Jim’s death: Bob and Ray each collect $250,000 from life insurance policy, and buy Jim’s stock from his estate. The value of the business remains at $1,500,000. Bob’s and Ray’s interest (each) in ownership is $750,000. Bob’s and Ray’s cost basis is $250,000 (insurance proceeds) plus original base $100,000 = $350,000 each. Bob retires: Bob has a living buyout when he sells his ownership to Ray. Bob has a capital gain of $400,000 ($750,0 00 (sale price) less $350,000 cost basis) If capital gains tax is 20%, taxes of $80,000 would be due on gain of $400,000. Bob would realize net of $320,000. (Note: If Bob retained stock until his death, the stock would then have a stepped -up basis to its then fair market value on the death of the stockholder, therefore, the result would have been the same under either method,) STOCK REDEMPTIONS UNDER SECTION 303 Because many estates have large percentages in closely held businesses, they have liquidity problems resulting many times in forced sales and in some cases, liquidation of the business. The Internal Revenue Code 303 was created to alleviate this problem. 147 It allows qualifying estates income-tax free stock redemption, in an amount to cover federal and state estate taxes, funeral expenses and estate administration expenses. Since a partial redemption of stock is treated as a taxable dividend to the shareholder that redeems the stock (or his heirs), this is very important in these situations. To qualify, the stock value must be included in the gross estate of the decedent and the value must represent more than 35% of the adjusted gross estate. The redemption must be made within 3 years and 90 days of filing the estate tax return. Life insurance is an excellent funding vehicle for these situations. The business applies for and pays the premiums on the policies insuring the owner’s life. The insured is the shareholder; both the policyowner and beneficiary is the business. At death of the shareholder, proceeds are paid to the business. The results are very much like that of key employee insurance. MISCELLANEOUS CONCERNS The IRS imposes a 28% additional tax on a corporation that accumulates earnings and profits beyond that which is needed for legitimate business purposes. The cross-purchase plan avoids the accumulated earnings concern as the policies are not owned by the corporation. Under a stock-redemption plan, since the corporation is the owner and beneficiary of the life insurance proceeds, cash values and death proceeds are subject to attachment by the creditors of the corporation as the policy values are considered as corporate assets. This problem does not exist under a cross-purchase plan. Many states require that any stock redemption be made from corporate surplus funds only. This problem does not exist under cross-purchase buyouts. Insurance proceeds can alleviate the problem under a stock-redemption plan. If a company operates heavily on credit, as many do, it is important to notic e if the loan agreement(s) has a restriction prohibiting stock redemption without the bank’s prior consent. If it does, a stock-redemption agreement could fail unless it were fully funded so that the creditors would not object to the redemption. This wou ld not be a problem with a cross-purchase agreement. KE Y E M PL O Y E E I N S U R A N C E A “key employee” is an individual who possesses a unique ability essential to the continued success of a business. This uniqueness may include the capital they control, or the energy, technical knowledge, experience, management ability or other areas that makes this person a valuable asset to the company. To determine whether a person is a key employee, the question is whether the death of this individual could severely handicap the company. The answer to any such question, if positive, would indicate a problem that can be solved, at least partially, by life insurance. Obviously some individuals are so “unique” in their ability that they cannot be replaced, however in most situa tions, an individual 148 can be replaced provided there is sufficient time and expertise available. In any event, an infusion of funds can, at the very least, alleviate the problem. The amount of life insurance is essentially “informed guesswork.” If the services of the key employee were to be lost suddenly, the financial loss to the company must be estimated. The life insurance benefits should equal the present value of the projected lost earnings, plus, there should be sufficient funds to pay the salary of the replacement. But in actual practice, the company would generally have to pay more to the replacement thant what they paid to the key employee. If an experienced and competent individual were hired, they would be “starting at the bottom” and would therefore demand a higher income. Key man insurance can be furnished by nonqualified plans such as those discussed below. In addition, there can be other plans adapted to meet the particular situation that might arise upon the premature death of a key employee. PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE On a typical key employee plan using permanent life insurance, the employer pays the premiums on the policy. Dividends generated by the policy are used to pay the income tax of the key employee (caused by the employer paying the premiums, as under federal tax laws, employer-paid premiums are taxed as additional earned income for the employee). Under many of the permanent policies, after the policy has been in force for a few years, the dividends could exceed the taxable premium income to the employee. The advantages of permanent life insurance to the key employee include life insurance coverage for life, increasing cash values, increasing dividends, selection of beneficiary and ownership of the policy. Key employee insurance may only be purchased by non-deductible dollars, however the death proceeds are generally received income-tax-free by the corporate beneficiary under IRC Section 101. NOTE: Corporate beneficiaries may be subject to the Alternative minimum Tax, as discussed earlier. For corporations, this brings insurance policy gains in excess of premium and death benefits in excess of cash value, into the AMT as these gains are added to a corporations book income. (See earlier note regarding possible repeal of the AMT.) TERM LIFE INSURANCE When Term life insurance is used for key man insurance, the premiums that are paid by the employer are considered federal taxable income to the employee. The employee selects the beneficiary and owns the policy. Generally, thes e policies will not remain in force after retirement as premiums continue to increase with age and become prohibitive (unless the employee is in very bad health, in which case they may wish to pay the extra premium under a separate arrangement with the emp loyer). 149 SALARY CONTINUATION PLAN As with the other key-man insurance plans, under the salary continuation plan the employer purchases (usually) permanent life insurance on the life of the employee. The employer is the beneficiary of the insurance policy, and owns the policy. If the employee dies before receiving all promised supplemental pension benefits, the employer pays the remaining supplemental pension benefits to the beneficiary of the deceased employee. Funds for payments are provided from the li fe insurance proceeds. Life insurance is used as an investment vehicle because employers promise employees not only supplemental employee retirement benefits (private pensions), but also benefits in the event of the employee’s premature death. DEATH BENEFIT ONLY LIFE INSURANCE PLAN The employer usually purchases permanent life insurance on the life of the employee, is the beneficiary of the policy, and owns the policy. The premiums paid by the employer are not considered federal taxable income to the em ployee. Upon the death of the employee, the employer will use the life insurance proceeds to pay death benefits for several years to the employee’s beneficiary. The employer receives the life insurance proceeds tax free; however, the death payments to the employee’s beneficiary are federal taxable income to that beneficiary. This plan can also be utilized to supplement the employee’s pension plan at retirement. SPLIT-DOLLAR LIFE INSURANCE The split-dollar plans are not technically “key man” insurance, but can be used for that purpose, as the employer still receives the death benefits in case of premature death of the employee. This plan, and those that are described below, are actually non -qualified executive benefits. The “split-dollar” plan is a different approach as the premiums are “split” between the employer and the employee. It is also called an Endorsement plan because the employee’s rights are protected by an endorsement on the policy that provides that the beneficiary designation of the employee which allows the beneficiary to receive the excess cash value, cannot be changed without the insured employee’s consent. Permanent life insurance is purchased on the employee, and the employer has an equity interest in the cash value of the policy into which the employer paid premiums. The employee has an equity interest in the cash value of the policy to the extent that the cash value exceeds the premiums paid in by the employer. Some insurers permit the ownership of the policy rights to be split, the insured/employee being designated as the owner of the portion of the death benefit in excess of the cash value, and the employer is designated as owner of all the other policy rights and benefits. 150 Under many permanent policies, the cash values will accumulate to a substantial sum, whereupon the employer can withdraw from the cash value an amount equal to the amount of premiums that the employer has paid into the policy. At this point, the split-dollar plan terminates, and the employee has the sole p ossession of the insurance policy. The cash values remaining should be sufficient so that no further premium payments are required by the employee to keep the policy in force. There are actually many ways to design a split-dollar contract. An employee may notice that the initial contribution to the contract is substantial, but in later years, it becomes zero. Therefore, they may ask the employer to average these charges over a number of years to make it easier to start the plan. Also, an employer may do a variation (a “no-split” split dollar plan) in which the beneficiary provisions are set up as with the split-dollar plan, but the employee does not contribute. The measure of taxability for split-dollar plans can be found in “PS-58” tax tables which are IRS tables used in computing the cost of pure life insurance protection taxable to the employee under qualified pension and profit sharing plans, split -dollar plans, and tax-sheltered annuities (See table on page 148). The actual cost of standard issue life insurance offered by the insurance company providing the coverage may also be used. A “Second-to-Die” or survivorship life policy can be used for split -dollar plans. It is important that the plans terminate the split-dollar arrangement at the death of the first party, otherwise it can cause tax problems to the survivor in the form of imputed income to non-employee insureds. Reverse Split-Dollar Plan A variation of this plan, often called “Reverse Split-Dollar” plan is created by changing who typically gets and pays for the account value of the policy. In effect, the employee’s primary objective is not a substantial amount of life insurance, but rather a substantial build-up of assets. Therefore, the corporation would pay the expenses and the mortality cost, and the investment account would become the property of the employee, i.e., the employer gets the death benefit and the employee gets the cash value which has been growing on a tax-free basis. The “reverse” split-dollar plan was not particularly attractive in the past, however with the recent surge in the stock market and with the introduction of interest -sensitive insurance products, particularly variable universal life, there is much more interest in this approach. This approach has definite tax advantages, and therefore any such arrangement should be structured with legal and professional accounting advice, as tax laws have been known to change frequently and sometimes drastically. 151 CONSUMER APPLICATION Ajax Corp. wants to purchase key man insurance on Bill, age 50, non-smoker, for $200,000. Ajax agrees to use the reverse split-dollar approach. Using a variable universal life insurance policy, a relatively conservative funding level would be about $4,000 per year. Of this amount, Ajax would pay the PS-58 costs for Bill, which is $9.22 per $1,000 for the year (age 50), or $1,844 (200x$9.22). Bill would then be responsible for paying $2,156 per year. When the policy is examined, it could easily show that the total expenses only amount to $1,200 (for which Ajax has paid $1,844). The extra money ($644) goes into the employees investment account. The $644 is an extra “bonus” caused by using the PS-58 tables. (How long this tax break will continue is anybody’s guess.) However, this reverse split-dollar arrangement is a “good deal” for the company and for Bill, regardless of the “bonus.” Collateral Assignment System Under the Collateral Assignment plan, the insured employee applies for the policy and is the owner of the policy, and therefore designates the beneficiary. The employee is primarily liable for the premium payment also. This sounds like a typical individual life insurance purchase, which it is up to this point. The employer and the employee enter a separate agreement, wherein t he employer agrees to loan (usually interest-free) the employee an amount equal to the annual increase in the cash value. Therefore, the employee has an actual cost of the portion of premium of each annual premium that exceeds the annual cash value increa se. Because there is a loan involved, the policy is assigned by the employee to the employer as collateral (hence the name) for the loan. At the death of the employee, the employer receives the amount of the loan from the death proceeds (not as a beneficiary, but as a collateral assignee). 152 P.S. No. 58 Rates The following rates are used in computing the “cost” of pure life insurance protection that is taxable to the employee under qualified pension and profit sharing plans, split-dollar plans, and tax-sheltered annuities. Rev. Rul. 55-747. 1955-2 CB 228: Rev. Rul. 66-110. 1966-1 CB 12 One Year Term Premium for $1,000 of Life Insurance Protection Age Premium 15 1.27 16 1.38 17 1.48 18 1.52 19 1.56 20 1.61 21 1.67 22 1.73 23 1.79 24 1.86 25 1.93 26 2.02 27 2.11 28 2.20 29 2.31 30 2.43 31 2.57 32 2.70 33 2.86 34 3.02 35 3.21 36 3.41 (Premiums are dollar amounts) Age Premium 37 3.63 38 3.87 39 4.14 40 4.42 41 4.73 42 5.07 43 5.44 44 5.85 45 6.30 46 6.78 47 7.32 48 7.89 49 8.53 50 9.22 51 9.97 52 10.79 53 11.69 54 12.67 55 13.74 56 14.91 57 16.18 58 17.56 Age Premium 59 19.08 60 20.73 61 22.53 62 24.50 63 26.63 64 28.98 65 31.51 66 34.28 67 37.31 68 40.59 69 44.17 70 48.06 71 52.29 72 56.89 73 61.89 74 67.33 75 73.23 76 79.63 77 86.57 78 94.09 79 102.23 80 111.04 81 120.57 The rate at insurer’s attained age is applied to the excess of the amount payable at death over the cash value of the policy at the end of the year. Choosing the Best Method of Split-Dollar Plan In determining the best split-dollar system to be used, the first consideration should be whether the employer wants the cash value to be available for business use during the time the split-dollar plan is in force. If this is the case, the endorsement system or split ownership system is best, as under the collateral assignment system, the employer generally cannot receive any of the cash value. Under the endorsement system, the employer can borrow from the policy at any time and for any reason (the employer is the policyowner). If the employee is not a stockholder or an officer, this method might be better as the policy and the protection it affords would be lost in the event of employment termination. 153 If the policy is going to be used to fund a retirement arrangement (nonqualified) the endorsement method would be best because at the employee’s retirement, the employer can take out a policy loan, receive the cash value under a settlement option, or continue to pay the premium until the employee’s death. If the collateral method is used, since the employee owns the policy, it will have to be transferred to the corporation if it is to be used to fund a (nonqualified) retirement plan. This could subject part of the death proceeds to income taxation if the insured employee was not an officer or shareholder. If an in-force policy is to be used, and owned by the employee, it is easier to use the collateral assignment system. Conversely, if the polic y is owned by the employer, it is easier to use the endorsement method. If a major purpose is to allow the employee to accumulate savings under the policy, then the collateral assignment method is best. MISCELLANEOUS USES OF SPLIT-DOLLAR PLANS Sole Proprietor In certain, and rare, situations, the sole proprietor may not have anyone to whom they wish to leave their business. If such is the case, then the business owner may wish to sell to an employee that would like to have the business if the owner shoul d die. Usually the employee does not have the funds to purchase the business, so the employee and the employer could enter into a split-dollar situation, but in this case, the insurance is on the life of the employer instead of the employee. Cross-Purchase Buy-and-Sell Agreement The major disadvantage on this type of arrangement is that the shareholders are personally responsible for the payment of the premiums on the insurance policy used to fund the plan. The corporation can help fund the plan by using the split-dollar arrangement, and the collateral assignment method is usually used. In effect, each shareholder applies for and owns a policy on the life of the other shareholders. Each shareholder then collaterally assigns the policy the shareholder ow ns on the other shareholder’s life, to the corporation as security for the corporation’s premium payments. However, if a split-dollar plan is used to fund this cross-purchase plan and it uses the collateral endorsement system, it could be considered as a “transfer for value” to the other shareholders of the insured. One approach to eliminate this problem, is to set up the ownership and beneficiary arrangement when the policy is first issued, and thus, the transfer is avoided. Also, if one of the parties to the cross-purchase agreement is a majority shareholder, using a split-dollar plan to fund the agreement could possibly create estate tax 154 difficulties. Because of tax laws regarding incidents of ownership (without going into lengthy details) the value of the stock in the corporation and the insurance proceeds received by the co-shareholder and used to purchase stock, will both be included in his/her gross estate. Family Split-Dollar Plan A split-dollar plan can also be used for family matters such as providing insurance protection for a married child, but they do not want to reduce the estate so that all of the children (or other heirs) will have their full share. The parents pay the premiums on the policy, typically with the spouse of their child as beneficiary, with the agreement that at the death of the insured child, the parents will receive the total amount of premiums they have paid. They have provided protection at a minimum outlay, and there are no tax implications, even gift taxation would not come into play as the $10,000 annual exclusion would apply. CONSUMER APPLICATION The Bradleys have five children, the oldest is Ben, a schoolteacher, married with two children. The Bradley’s are concerned that if something happens to Ben, they would have to take funds from the estate that they feel also belongs to the other four children, in order to help Ben’s family. The parents purchase a life insurance policy on Ben’s life, with Ben’s wife named as beneficiary and children as contingent beneficiaries. Since Ben is still relatively young, they are able to purchase a policy with enough death benefit so that Ben’s family will be well cared for. They have an agreement with Ben so that in case of Ben’s death, the total amount of premium that they have paid will be returned to the parents from Ben’s estate. The agreement is also signed by Ben’s wife. The Bradley’s have created a trust for their children, and if his parents die before Ben, the trust will continue making premium payments on the policy, with the amount of the premiums subtracted from Ben’s share of his parent’s estate. EXECUTIVE BONUS PLAN The executive bonus plan is quite simple. The employer purchases life insurance policies on selected employees and since the employer is paying the premium, it is free to discriminate among employees benefited by this plan. Since it is nonqualified, the premiums are considered as taxable income to the employee and are tax deductible to the employer (unless the IRS finds that the payments are “unreasonable”). The employee owns the policy, names the beneficiary and has all other policy rights. However, the death benefits will appear in the employee’s gross estate if the employer retains any ownership interest, or the proceeds are payable to or f or the benefits of the estate. 155 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 8 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. An important characteristic of a closely held business is A. numerous stockholders. B. it is usually not marketable. C. when an owner dies the business is liquidated and it is not considered important. When a sole proprietor dies A. the personal representative of the estate can run the business. B. it does not signifially effect the business. C. the debts of the business become the debts of the estate. The type of closely held firm that continues when an owner dies is a A. sole proprietorship. B. closely-held corporation. C. general partnerships. An agreement whereby the business is obligated to buy out the ownership of a deceased partner is A. a cross-purchase buy-sell agreement. B. redemption plan. C. entity buy-sell agreement. If life insurance is used to fund a partnership buy-sell agreement the A. premiums paid are not deductible. B. proceeds are usually taxable. C. proceeds are included in the insured’s estate. A closely-held corporation is usually A. owned by a professional partnership. B. owned by a small number of people. C. openly traded on a national stock exchange. 156 7. 8. 9. 10. A “key employee” is A. an individual that posses a unique ability essential to the success of a business. B. usually a stockholder. C. always an officer in the company. With “key employee” insurance A. the employee pays the premium. B. the premiums are deductible as a business expense. C. there are advantages to use permanent life insurance. With “key employee” insurance the premium is paid by the _______________ and the _____________ is the beneficiary. A. business/business. B. employee/business. C. employee/employee. With a split-dollar life insurance policy A. the premiums are split between the employer and the employee. B. term life insurance is purchased on the life of the employee. C. the employee is the insured but has no interest in the policy. Answers to Chapter Eight Study Questions 1B 2C 3B 4C 5A 6B 7A 8C 9A 157 10A C H A P T E R N I N E - U N D E R WR I T I N G The term “underwriting” has a double connotation in life insurance. Originally, the word “underwriting” came from the practice of wealthy individuals and firms assuming certain risks, usually maritime (marine) risks. When accepting these risks, the practice was for these individuals or firms to sign under the terms of the contract, hence the name “underwriter.” In life insurance, individuals who market life insurance are called underwriters, or “field underwriters.” Those individuals who have taken a series of examinations from the American College of Life Underwriters, and have prescribed experience in life insurance, are awarded the designation of “Chartered Life Underwriters.” This chapter discusses the process by which an insurance company determines the risk of an application submitted by an individual and determines if the risk is acceptable to the insurer, and if so, on what basis. The individuals who do the risk selection and classification, are called “underwriters,” or “home office underwriters.” They have their own professional designation, “Fellow, Home Office Underwriters Association” which is awarded after a series of examinations and completion of experience requirements. Their primary responsibility is to assess the potential of loss of each applicant from information that they gather from various sources, and then determine what classification or “loss potential” is the closest of that of the applicant. The process of underwriting consists of two separate functions: Selection and Classification. Selection is the process of determining whether the applicant meets the insurability criteria and standards of the insurance company, and to measure the risk s involved. The next step is Classification, which is the process wherein an underwriter assigns the individual to a “class” of insureds, or group of insureds, who have approximately the same loss probabilities as that of the insured. Underwriters deal more with probabilities than with certainties – although in life insurance there is a certainty of a loss if the policy stays in force long enough. The question of when the insured will die is not certain, but by the insured being assigned to a group of similar insureds with similar attributes and health history, whose life expectancies should approximate that of the insured, and to do so in a manner that is equitable to the insured and profitable for the company, the underwriter has performed his duties. Group insurance is underwritten differently than individual, as described later, as each group is expected to contribute a premium that is sufficient to cover its loss potential. However, individual insurance is different, as each individual should pay an amount which is sufficient to cover the expected value of his/her losses. If some of the insureds 158 pay premiums that are insufficient to cover adequately the expected losses (and expenses of the insurer) the other insureds must make up the difference, in effect “subsidizing” the other insureds. Each insured in each “pool” would expect to receive a loss -payment in the form of a subsidy, from other members of a pool. This would mean that those who least expects to suffer a loss would drop from the pool, leaving only those that have greater expectations of receiving a loss payment from the “pool.” This creates adverse selection, and the underwriter’s function is to reduce adverse selection as much as possible. Obviously, those persons applying for life insurance vary widely in various areas. Many are overweight (a few underweight), some are in ill health or at death’s door, others are in excellent health and the majority is in good health, and many do not have the slightest impairment. Those who are in good health and meet the standards for insurance of the company are considered as “standard” risks. Those who do not meet the qualifications are called “substandard” risks. If complete information on an individual was available, and then underwriting would be straight-forward and there really would be no need for home office underwriters. Facetiously, if an applicant were able to furnish only accurate facts to the insurance company, the company could issue the policy and would be guaranteed of a profit. All they need to know are (1) the date of birth, and (2) the date of death. ADVERSE SELECTION Adverse selection starts when an applicant who is uninsurable or a greater than average risk, seeks to obtain a policy from a company at a standard premium ra te. Life insurance companies carefully screen applicants for this reason, since their premiums are based on policyowners in average good health and in non -hazardous occupations. While this chapter discusses the application process, adverse selection also exists when existing insureds believe their premiums are too high in relation to their specific loss potential, and they can discontinue their insurance without penalty or without a significant penalty. In other words, the “best” risks leave the group an d cancel their insurance, leaving behind those who believe that their premiums are accurate or inadequate (those of a higher risk), with the results that the premiums for the remaining group then become under-priced, but if the premiums are raised to meet this higher anticipated loss ratio, then the cycle repeats, where eventually the only ones who remain in the pool are those who are so large a risk that they must stay in the pool. In life insurance, if the applicants know that an insurance company will o ffer them insurance without performing any underwriting, those who are in poor health or those who expect to have higher mortality than the average; will apply for the coverage in anticipation of a more favorable rate. 159 Conversely, if they know that the insurance company will investigate their insurability status, those who are in poor health or would be classified as substandard for other reasons, would either not apply or would submit truthful applications as they would be aware that the insurer will check on the accuracy of the answers. UNDERWRITING FACTORS Factors primarily used in the home office underwriting process and included on the application include age; sex; physical condition and personal health history; family health history; financial condition; use of alcohol or drugs or tobacco; occupation; avocation and military status. At times, aviation and residence location are also considered. AGE Since expected future mortality is correlated with age, the older a person, the higher the mortality risks. While many people are “young for their age”, or vice -versa, there is no way to measure the biological age of a person, so the underwriters (and actuaries) have to use chronological age only. Age is not a key factor in whether a risk is acceptable, except in the very early years and in the later years, and some insurers will not insure a new born baby or a person of advanced years (such as age 75). For the older ages, the premium might be so high that it is not attractive to persons of that advanced age (or if it were available, adverse selection might rear its ugly head again). With the very young, the mortality rate is also very high for a short while. In any event, the insurance company would probably not insure enough people in those categories to have a sufficient spread of risk. Proof of age is not required at time of application as few people misstate their age and verification of age is relatively easy, if necessary. Besides, the “misstatement of age” provision in the policy takes care of adjusting the premiums or risk accordingly. SEX Sex, like age, by itself, is rarely used for selection of risk, but is a classification as mortality tables show that the mortality of males and females are different – the mortality of females are better (lower) than that of males. Interestingly, this was not always true as insurance companies used to charge the same premiums during child bearing years, as they felt that the increase in mortality because of the hazards of childbirth offset any other mortality advantage of females. Today the childbirth-hazard has diminished to where it generally is no longer a factor. Since females should be charged lower premiums for life insurance based on lower mortality, it also then follows that females should be charg ed higher premiums for annuities. While this is true, the question arises whether it is socially acceptable for males and females to be charged different rates, which has led to “unisex” rates, i.e., there is one premium for both male and female. 160 PHYSICAL CONDITION In underwriting, the most important factor is that of the physical condition of the insured. There are several primary factors of the health of the applicant that are carefully scrutinized. Health information about the applicant comes from sev eral sources, as discussed later, but primarily from the statements of the insured on the application and from physician’s statements regarding past health history admitted by the applicant. (Sources of underwriting information are discussed in detail lat er) BUILD Build includes height, weight and the distribution of the weight. Everyone is aware that being significantly overweight can cause an early demise, but an underwriter also has to be aware of how even moderate overweight can affect other physical conditions, such as diabetes or a heart condition. ABNORMALITIES The mortality experience of an applicant will depend upon certain physical abnormalities as they affect the important parts of the body, such as the nervous system, digestive, cardiovascular, respiratory or genitourinary systems and other glands. It is outside the scope of this text to go into detail as to how various problems in this area affect mortality, but some of these are obvious. Problems with the circulatory systems, such as high blood pressure, a heart murmur, or fibrillation’s of the heart (irregular or erratic heart beat) are of considerable interest as they can lead to higher than normal mortality. A urine specimen can discover internal problems, particularly with the blood and/or kidneys. Conversely, low blood cholesterol; normal or lower-than-normal blood pressure and non-use of tobacco are “plusses.” There is always concern about AIDS because it spreads so easily and it has a fatal effect. When AIDS first was diagnosed, there was a lot of concern about privacy of medical records and unfair discrimination. Today most of the issues about privacy, confidentiality and discrimination have been resolved, and insurers now treat AIDS like any other disease, but the right to test individuals for AIDS is still controversial and in some jurisdictions, testing is prohibited. PERSONAL HEALTH HISTORY Insurance companies inquire into the background of their applicants in those areas that would have an impact on future mortality. This includes the individual’s health records and other non-health area, such as driving records and possible over insurance. As indicated earlier, most of the health history comes from the application and from attending physicians and/or hospitals. The applicant for life or health insurance signs a 161 form (usually at the bottom of the application) which gives any doctors or hospitals permission to furnish medical records to the insurer. In many cases, if an individual has not had a physical examination for a significant number of years, the insurance company can ask the applicant to submit to a physical examination, usually, but not always, at the expense of the insurance company. Para medical examinations, which are performed in the applicant’s home o r business office, are quite common. If the underwriter requires a more detailed examination, such as a stress test, these are usually performed at the expense of the applicant. If there is or is suspected of being, a cardiovascular problem, and an electrocardiogram (EKG) may be requested and copies of past EKG’s may be requested also. Insurers either have a medical director on staff, or the application and medical records may be sent to a reinsurer for their interpretation and evaluation. (Reinsurers have expert medical underwriting staffs.) Over insurance discovered through insurance history is important. If an applicant has more insurance than normal, and perhaps more than is financially justified, the underwriter has to ask himself, “What does he know that I don’t?” Records from other insurance companies can be requested, however in most jurisdictions an insurer may not render an underwriting decision based upon only the records of another insurer. FAMILY HISTORY The magic word here is “heredity.” Many diseases can be transmitted from generation to generation and family health history is heavily influenced by inherited genetics. If the parents of an applicant lived to a “ripe old age,” then genetically speaking, there is a good possibility that the applicant will also. Conversely, if both parents died of heart conditions at an early age, then the underwriter will pay particular attention to any coronary problems, overweight, cholesterol, etc. TOBACCO USE Insurance companies are now well aware that smoking and other tobacco use causes mortality experience to worsen, even in the absence of other physical factors. In addition, smoking can aggravate many other health problems. Most insurance companies now have smoker and non-smoker rates. Even though the smoker rates will be considerably higher, in many cases they are not adequate , particularly if the person is a heavy smoker. Actually, female smokers have higher mortality than the nonsmoking male. Where there is no differentiation, most in surers consider the “standard” grouping as 75 percent nonsmokers who have about 85% of expected mortality, with the remaining 25% having about 150% of expected mortality. This differs by age and as an example, those ages 40 -49 that are tobacco users have about twice the mortality rate of the nonsmokers. It should be understood that the nonsmokers are not a “ super standard” class, and because of the continuing decline in smoking in the U.S., the nonsmokers will soon be 162 (and in some cases, already are) the “standard” classification. The smokers will be (or are) considered “substandard” and will pay additional (substandard) premiums. FINANCIAL CONDITION The reputation of the applicant in meeting financial obligations can indicate the moral risk involved with the applicant. Financial condition, which includes personal net worth, size of income, sources of income, and permanency of the income, are very important underwriting factors. The relationship between the income and financial worth of the individual a nd his life insurance coverage, in force and applied for, can indicate good or bad financial and estate planning. However, if the amounts are quite large, then the underwriter must start questioning as to the reasons for the difference in amount. Again, what does the applicant know that the underwriter does not know? CONSUMER APPLICATION In the early 1970’s, a cattle rancher from Oklahoma applied for life insurance in the amount of approximately $15 million, at that time considered as a huge policy. W hile the applicant actually wanted more insurance, this amount was all that was available anywhere, and even reinsurers worldwide kept their maximum amount (retention). The inspection company did not fully verify the finances of the applicant, and they ac cepted the word of the applicant as to his net worth without precise verification, as he was very well known and influential in Oklahoma, he had a huge ranch, and his wife was wealthy in her own right. 13 months later, the insured was found in the basement of his home, stabbed and bludgeoned to death. Nearby was his injured “bodyguard,” an ex -convict who claimed that the “assailant” had stabbed him. Claims investigations discovered that the insured was on the verge of bankruptcy and it was suspected, but not proven, that he owed a lot of money to the Mafia. It was also discovered that the partner of the General Agent who had written the policy, was discovered to be a former “Mafia hit man” and was found murdered in a rural area in Canada, not far from the body of another known hit man. The murder was never solved. The insurers settled for a little over 50% of the face amount of the policy. (As an aside, apropos to nothing, the widow married the bodyguard, then divorced him and married her attorney.) If the underwriters (and each reinsurer underwrote the case in addition to the company underwriter – there could have been as many as 25 or more underwriters review the application and records) had been aware of the financial difficulties, it is extremely doubtful that this policy would have been issued, at least for that amount. At time of claim, it was reported to be the largest claim in U.S. life insurance history. (Incidentally, there is a movie and a book about this actual case.) ALCOHOL AND DRUGS If the applicant is known to be an excessive user of alcohol, they can be either given a substandard rating or declined. Participation in a support program or alcohol treatment program can cause the application to be accepted or declined for a specific number of 163 years without use of alcohol. The use of alcohol will severely affect the health of the applicant in any event, and such tests as liver function tests, may be required. For other drugs, if there is use of “hard” or illegal drugs, then the applicant i s declined. If the drugs have been prescribed by a physician, then the underwriting concern is the overuse of the drugs, and the reason for the drug treatment. A person who has used occasional or recreational use of drugs, and has not used them for an ex tended period of time since the last usage, and can show reliability and responsibility, etc., is probably insurable, depending upon the time frame. OCCUPATION Occupational hazards used to be much more significant than they are today, thanks to safety measures taken by various industries. The hazards today are still present in three specific areas. The occupation may create an occupational hazards, such as working where drugs and/or alcohol are sold &/or used. The occupation may have an effect upon the health and well being of the individual because of environmental or other factors, such as inhaling chemicals or whose working conditions may be of such a nature that diseases are rampant or frequent, such as close, dusty and cramped quarters. There is al so a risk from accidents, and people who are susceptible to accidents are carefully scrutinized, such as racecar drivers, crop-dusters, etc. Years ago, private pilots could not get life insurance or the rates were prohibitive. Now, insurance is available and the rates depend upon the experience of the pilot. A person, who is rated because of occupation, may change occupations to one that is safer. As a general rule, the insured would have to remain at the new safer job for a certain period of time, and then apply for a rate reduction. In initial underwriting, the practice is usually to ignore a hazardous occupation if the applicant has been away from that occupation for a year or more. AVOCATIONS With a higher standard of living than previous generations, many of the newly rich (and those not so rich) spend more time and money than ever before in the pursuit of exhilaration. This has shown an increase in such sports as scuba diving, rock climbing, parachute jumping (sky diving), hang gliding and competitive racing. These activities can often be considered hazardous and should be considered in the underwriting process. Many times a flat extra premium will be added to cover the added risk and in some situations, the applicant will be declined. MILITARY SERVICE When the country is at peace, insurance is usually offered to military personnel. However, when the country is at war, then the problem of adverse selection arises, particularly when a serviceman has just been issued orders to join a unit in comb at. In these cases, either the application is declined, a limit on the amount of insurance is offered, or a war exclusion clause which limits the payment to return of premiums if the 164 insured is killed in a military action, but pays the full face amount if death is caused by other than military action. The war exclusion clause was used in WWII and in Korea, but not during the Vietnam War. An interesting feature of this clause is that when war or hostilities cease, these war clauses are routinely cancelled and they cannot be brought up again. It is too early to tell what the response to the present (2001) war against the terrorists will be in respect to the war clause, but the thinking at this time is that if the “war” is contained as anticipated, public opinion would be so solidly against any such restriction that the insurance companies would probably not even consider such a clause. There are two other areas of concern to an underwriter, but they do not arise often. Aviation risks apply to private pilots, but can also apply to commercial pilots and military pilots. Where there is a definite aviation hazard, the applicant will be asked to complete an aviation questionnaire and based upon these answers – which are concerned primarily with experience, t ype of aircraft and frequency of flying as a pilot – an additional premium may be charged. Flights by fare -paying passengers are not considered as a hazard and there are no extra premiums charged. Most scheduled airline pilots and experienced private pilots are issued insurance with no aviation restrictions. The other area is that of residence. If a resident of the U.S. is going to take up residence in a foreign country, depending upon the living standards of the country and the political atmosphere, there may be an extra premium charged, and in some cases, the application may be declined. For a foreign resident moving to the U.S., the big problem is developing underwriting information. And then if a claim should occur, obtaining claims information is a problem. The currency problem in other countries can come into play also. U N D E R W R I T I N G I N FO R M A T I O N As mentioned earlier, sources of information used in underwriting comes from a variety of sources, but primarily from the following: applications; physical examinations; laboratory testing; agent’s statements; attending physician reports (APS); inspection companies; databases sponsored by the insurance industry APPLICATIONS There cannot be enough stress placed on the importance of the application. Nothing can compare to a completed and accurate application. 165 Part I of the application contains questions about personal information, such as name, addresses, business addresses, occupations, sex, date of birth, relation to beneficiary, etc. It also asks about type of insurance applied for and in force, driving record, past declination or modification of insurance in force or applied for, aviation, avocations, foreign travel, etc. Part II is the medical history of the applicant, with details and names of doctors and hospitals in attendance, both present and within the past 5 years (or more), questions regarding the physical well-being of the applicant, use of alcohol or drugs, and family history. A copy of the application becomes part of the insurance pol icy. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION As discussed earlier, if a physical examination is necessary, the doctor or paramedic conducting the physical will complete a form prescribed by the insurance company. Copies of X-Rays, EKG’s, EEG’s and other test results may be required. These examinations are very important and many medical conditions can be discovered through these exams, but they are not fool-proof as many applicants attempt to conceal health problems, and may come prepared for the physical by dieting and exercising prior to the exam. Paramedical exams are usually used for the smaller amount policies, but at a predetermined threshold, a “full” examination by a physician may be needed. LABORATORY TESTS Laboratory testing became more common because of the exposure to AIDS and illegal drug use. With the public awareness of other health risks, such as cholesterol readings, laboratory tests are used more and more and have been found to be cost -justified. Tests usually consist of blood and urine specimens, and urine testing is used for controlled substances, medications, and nicotine. New genetic research finds that genetic testing can be invaluable for insurers. Presently insurance companies consider genetic testing as any other testing and genetic tests use d by medical professionals for treatment and for preventative medicine are used as any other test. Insurance companies do not order genetic testing as part of the underwriting procedure. ATTENDING PHYSICIANS’ STATEMENTS If the application completed by the insured contains medical history, it is common practice (mandatory with some companies) to obtain copies of the medical records. These are called “Attending Physician’s Statements”, better known as “APSs.” In some cases, the agent or agency will request an APS at time of application. In some situations and with some companies, the company will pay for the APS (usually if the 166 charge is within reason as some physicians have discovered that this is a good source of added income). The medical records of an individual is legally confidential between the physician and the patient, therefore the application will contain, either as a “tear -off” part of the application, or on a separate form, an authorization for a copy of the insured’s medical records to be submitted by the physician or medical facility, to the insurer. The APS is generally considered as the most important underwriting source, but they can be subject to delay (the doctor’s offices are notorious for not being in a hurry to copy and mail the records) and on occasion, physicians have been known to refuse to submit records. The medical records of the patient belong to the patient, and occasionally an agent or the underwriter must request of the applicant that they obtain their own medical records. INSPECTION COMPANIES Underwriters order inspection reports from inspection companies which interview the insured (or in some cases, do not interview the insured or a member of his family, neighbors, employer and others, depending upon the request by th e insurer. Inspection reports are now referred to as “consumer” reports and the inspection companies are called “consumer reporting agencies.” Old-timers still frequently refer to them as “Retail Credit” reports, after the name of the largest inspection company until it changed its name. These reports are ordered routinely if the amount of insurance applied for exceeds a certain amount (such as $100,000), &/or over a certain age. Consumer reporting agencies are strictly regulated by the U.S. Fair Cred it Reporting Act, which defines a consumer report as “a written, oral or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency that has a bearing on the consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reput ation, personal characteristics, or mode of living, and which is used or expected to be used in whole or in part to establish eligibility for credit, personal insurance, employment or certain other purposes.” (Note that these reports are to be used for personal insurance.) An “investigative consumer report” is a consumer report containing information on the consumer’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, and this information is obtained by personal interviews with t he consumer’s neighbors, friends or associates. When the amount applied for triggers an inspection report, the report may be ordered from the home office of the insurer, or in some cases, by a field office. The completed report is always submitted to the underwriting department of the insurance company. In most states, the applicant must be notified in writing that they may be investigated. The type of report will usually depend upon the size of the insurance amount applied for. Insurers may require a short form that verifies the address, occupation and employment of the applicant, or an intermediate form that requires more information. For very large amounts, particularly if it is for business purposes, a very detailed report is requested and may require interviewing the applicant’s bank, accountants, and other 167 business affiliations and is usually billed on an hourly basis. The insurer pays for inspection reports. Insurers are becoming more comfortable with personal interviews and have discovered that underwriting information that would not otherwise be known can be obtained by a personal interview in the hands of a professional. Some insurers of other lines, such as Long Term Care, use personal interviews frequently. DATABASES – MEDICAL INFORMATION BUREAU (MIB) The Medical Information Bureau, “MIB,” is one of the most misunderstood organizations in the insurance industry. It is a membership organization with virtually all insurance companies as members, and even those companies who are not memb ers (usually very small or new) often receive the benefits of the MIB through reinsurance underwriting on difficult or large cases. The MIB is a “repository” of confidential information, most of which is of a medical nature, on people who have applied for life or health insurance to the member companies. It is highly computerized and was formed to protect insurance companies against fraud by insurance applicants. Information is coded and members are required to report certain medical impairments, obtained from a medical source or from the applicant directly. Contrary to popular belief, the underwriting decision of the member companies is not shown on MIB data and they do not state the type of size of the insurance applied for. Information other than medical impairments is reported also, such as driving records, aviation, hazardous sports activities and criminal activities or association. A member of the MIB may not make an unfavorable underwriting decision based solely or in part, upon the information contained in the MIB. In most states, the applicant must be informed in writing that the insurance company may report information to the MIB, and how the applicant can obtain a copy of the MIB report and dispute the report. Authorization to the MIB to release information on the applicant is usually on the same form as the release of medical information authorization. CONSUMER APPLICATION Bruce, who lived in Seattle, applied for life insurance in 1998 with Ajax Life. He admitted on the application that he had recently been diagnosed with early stage multiple sclerosis. He was declined by Ajax and the information on his illness was coded and submitted to the MIB. Shortly thereafter, Bruce moved to Florida. Being in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS), Bruce was aware that he was subject to sudden seizures that could affect various body movements or functions, but since he had not had any serious recent seizures, he never reported it to his regular physician in Florida, but found a specialist in treating the disease which monitored Bruce’s attacks. (Continued on next page) 168 In early 2001, Bruce applied for life insurance with Acme Life. On his application he never mentioned his MS or his treatment by the specialist. The underwriter at Acme received an MIB report, filed by Ajax, showing that Bruce had MS. The Acme underwriter contacted Ajax who sent the details that they had in the ir files. Bruce was then contact by the Acme underwriter, but he denied any such illness and denied ever having had a diagnosis or treatment of MS. Acme may not make an underwriting decision based upon MIB information, so they must obtain verifying information. Acme would require Bruce to submit to a medical examination and test that would probably show that he had MS, and they would decline the application. If they were not able to verify the MS diagnosis, for whatever reason, they could not decline or rate Bruce’s policy based on the MIB report. CLASSIFICATION PROCESS It was mentioned earlier that life insurance underwriting consists of two phases, selection and classification. Up to this point, the discussion has focused on the selection process. At the next stage, the underwriter must determine whether the applicant is insurable, and if so, on what basis. If the applicant does not meet the underwriting criteria of the company, then the application is declined and the process ends. The only other choices are whether the applicant is to be accepted at standard rates, at substandard rates (either temporary or permanent) or whether the application will be postponed for a period of time (in those cases where the effect of a medical condition can be better determined at a later date). CONSUMER APPLICATION Conrad is scheduled to have prostate surgery, non-cancerous, by an eminent urologist, in 3 weeks. He had been talking to his brother-in-law who is an insurance agent, about taking out a new life insurance policy to help pay off a mortgage on his new and expensive house, in case he should die. He resumes the discussion, and makes an application for insurance. Conrad is in excellent health, in good financial condition, and meets the requirements of a standard policy from the insurer. However, the underwriting decision would be to postpone the application until a certain period of time after the surgery has been successfully completed, at which time the application will be reviewed again and if there are no changes, the policy can be issued. In the early years of life insurance, decisions regarding medical difficulties primarily were reviewed by the underwriter, an independent doctor or the company’s medical director (who was a doctor), the actuary, and anyone else that may have some expertise in the area. Basically, the application was either issued or declined, with little other classification. This “judgement” method of underwriting obviously left a lot to be desired, so the numerical rating system was devised. 169 THE RATING SYSTEM The numerical rating system (or alphabetical system described later) starts with the “standard” rating of 100, i.e., a “standard” risk has a rating of 100. From this, any factor that has an effect on the mortality of the applicant is judged by debits or credits, generally in 25 “points” increments. The ratings range usually from 75 or less to a high of 500 or more, with 125 or less considered as standard. Any application with 500 of more rating is usually declined, or at least considered as experimental underwriting. Many companies consider ratings of 75-85 as “preferred,” 100 to 125 as standard, 150 to 500 as substandard. Generally, underwriting decisions are in multiples of two, expressed as “Tables.” For instance, if the medical condition falls within 50 additional points, then the application would be classified as “Table 2.” If the conditions were more severe, then it would normally be rated at Table 4. There usually is no Table 3,5,7, etc. in normal underwriting practice with most companies, but they could be used if there were a combination of “positive factors”, such as an applicant who is slightly underweight but is active and other than a particular health problem, is in above -average condition. The rating might be a Table 4 for the health problem, but reduced by a Table for the good health, and the policy could be issued at a Table 3 – depending upon whether the company has Table 3 rates. Normally, however, the inclination would be to issue at Table 2 for competitive purposes with typical ordinary life insurance applications. Some underwriters interpolate the numerical ratings into alphabetical ratings. For instance, a Table 4 would be Table D (the 4 th letter). Underwriters use Underwriting manuals which are either based upon their own experience on their own business (usually only the very large companies) or manuals provided by the reinsurance companies. Most illnesses, impairments and diseases are listed, with descriptions and with suggested ratings. If an individual has more than one illness/disease/impairment or ratable condition, as happens very frequently, often the two rating are not added together, but an additional rating is added when there are multiple conditions. An overweight person who has a little coronary problem would be rated at more than the combination of the two, or could even be declined because of the two, but would have been accepted if it were only overweight or only coronary. CONSUMER APPLICATION Herbert applied for a life insurance policy. On the application he indicates that he is 37 years old, 5’10” tall, weight 215 pounds and he has had a “little high blood pressure” but is not under medication or treatment. He is a non-smoker, non-drinker and he is active physically. His parents both are alive, in there 60’s and his grandparents both lived into there 90’s. A paramedical exam showed a blood pressure of 155/90. 170 (Continued) Herbert would be rated for overweight by build tables used by the company. Build-overweight: 25 points added; Blood pressure: 75 points added; and Family history: 10 points credited. In addition, the combined weight and blood pressure ratings would be increased by an additional rating as the combination places Herbert in a higher risk category. Herbert’s total classification would be over 200 points (remember, everyone starts with the “standard” of 100 points) and definitely substandard. Practically speaking, his history of weight and blood pressure would determine whether the underwriter would consider a lower rating for competitive reasons. If the total rating is Table 6 or lower, and there are no other health factors, another company may offer a Table 4, depending upon the plan, etc. RATING IMPAIRED RISKS There is a large (huge, actually) market for impaired risks, i.e., substandard risks applying for life insurance. The life insurance industry continues to change, and as new medical advances appear, the industry takes them into consideration. Many of the standard or slightly substandard policies available today could not have been issued only a few years ago. Thanks largely to computers, insurance companies are able to compile statistics that enable them to better understand the effect of impairment on the expected mortality of a particular class of business. Many advances in impaired risk underwriting are a result of the influence of reinsurers. Reinsurers, and in particular, foreign (European mostly) reinsurers have been pioneers in underwriting impaired risks. Reinsurers have competed vigorously for impaired risk business, many of them accepting substandard risks with the understanding that they will also participate in standard business written by the insurer. Reinsurers have conducted seminars in underwriting, participated in industry underwriting and actuarial conventions and have created and furnished underwriting manuals for underwriters (most life insurance underwriters have at least one, and frequently several, reinsurance underwriting manuals) at no cost to the underwriters. Reinsurers are generally able to accept business that smaller companies cannot accept, because of the large block of business that they have in force. Reinsurers “reinsure” among each other (technically called “retro ceding”), so compared to a “regular” life insurance company, their number of insured lives is very large so they are able to base underwriting decisions upon their own experience. Recent studies indicate that about 75% of all applicants for life insurance that have been declined have been declined for health reasons. Approximately 90 percent of substandard ratings have been related to physical impairments, such as heart murmurs, obesity, diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). 171 RATING PROCEDURES OF IMPAIRED RISKS The most common method used for substandard ratings is the multiple table extra method, discussed above. Premium rates are based on mortality experience that corresponds to the average numerical ratings in each class. Taking it one step further, many companies use the same non-forfeiture values and dividends that they do for standard risks – a few do not. Some companies do not permit the extended term option on highly rated cases. Companies vary premium rates for substandard risks by plan, with the extra substandard premiums being lower for the higher cash value plans because the net amount at risk decreases over the life of the policy so the insurer has less exposure. With the exception of level premium plans, substandard premiums do not increase in proportion to the degree of extra mortality expected, as the loadings in cash value policies do not increase proportionately to the mortality risk. In other words, the expenses, such as commissions, etc., do not increase significantly if a policy is substandard. It is typica l for an insurer to pay commissions only on the standard premium and not on the substandard portion of the premium. If commissions were to be paid on substandard premiums, then the premiums would have to be raised to accommodate these commissions. Table ratings reflect the extra mortality expected for individuals with the same ratings. The substandard premium reflects a percentage of standard mortality, and does not include loading or other expenses. The following is an example of substandard mortalit y classifications: Table Mortality (% of standard mortality) 1 125 2 150 3 175 4 200 5 225 6 250 7 275 8 300 10 350 12 400 16 500 Uninsurable Table 16 or rating over 550 172 Numerical Rating 120-135 140-160 165-185 190-210 215-235 240-260 265-285 290-325 330-380 385-450 455-550 FLAT EXTRA PREMIUM The flat extra premium is used when the substandard risk is expected to remain static, regardless of age, permanently or temporarily. A flat extra premium is added to the regular premium and the policy is considered as “standard” for dividends and nonforfeiture values. The flat extra premium is most commonly used for hazardous occupations and avocations as the additional mortality risk is considered as static, regardless of age. It is also used where the substandard extra risk is temporary in nature, such as after surgery, or where there is a single health event, such as a coronary rating which frequently consists of a table rating plus a temporary flat extra. After a policy has been issued with a flat extra premium (or given a substandard rating in a few situations) the insured may apply to have the extra premium removed if the situation has changed for the better. If the extra premium was assessed because of occupation, then a change of occupation could eliminate this extra premium. However, the burden of change in status is the responsibility of the insured, and they m ust notify the insurer of the change and be able to fully document this change. Usually when a request for change involves occupation or avocation or change in residence, there will be a probationary period of 1-3 years before the premium is lowered. This is obviously a requirement so that an insured cannot revert back to the former occupation, avocation or residence as soon as the extra premium has been dropped. CONSUMER APPLICATION Bristol Life Insurance Company was a small, relatively new, life insure r that relied heavily upon services provided by their reinsurer. The Chairman of the Board and principal investor in the company was 45 years old when he applied for a $1 million face amount life insurance policy with Bristol because of a business arrange ment that required that he be insured for that amount. Because of the size of Bristol, they would keep (retain) only $50,000 on any one life, and therefore they sent the application to their reinsurer for underwriting assistance. The reinsurer’s underwriter requested an APS, which disclosed that the applicant had an episode of hypertension where the blood-pressure readings were alarmingly high, about 3 years prior, but in two subsequent physical examinations, the blood pressure returned to normal. The underwriter followed the typical underwriting guidelines for a single episode of high blood pressure, which is to consider that a single episode will usually become the norm – i.e., the applicant’s blood pressure will increase significantly, even though it had not done so except for the one incidence. The application was declined by the reinsurer, who, as required, submitted these findings to the MIB. When the President of Bristol was notified that his Chairman had been declined, he demanded a meeting with the reinsurance representative that serviced his company. The political ramifications were immense, in his eyes. Not only could his company not (Continued on next page) 173 insure the Chairman of the Board, but because of the MIB, he felt the “whole industry” was aware of the problem and would not insure him. The reinsurance underwriter stated he could reconsider this application if additional information could explain the one-time high blood pressure reading. Otherwise they might agree to accept a $100,000 policy at increased premium, and with Bristol keeping $50,000. This, however, did not solve the needs of the Chairman. The applicant contacted his doctor who had made the readi ng. By checking the date it was determined that on that day, the applicant, who was an experienced pilot who flew single-engine biplanes, was in the cockpit of his plane, and his sister, also a pilot, “spun” the prop on the plane to get it started. She f ell into the propeller, killing her and her blood flew onto the cockpit. The applicant went into a state of shock, and his doctor came to the airfield and took a blood pressure that was “off the chart.” That accounted for the single episode of hypertension. The reinsurance underwriter therefore agreed to accept the risk, but with a temporary extra for a period of three years. If there were no more episodes of high blood pressure during these 3 years, the rating would be removed. This was acceptable to a ll parties concerned, and the rating was removed three years later. (This example was taken from the files of a large reinsurer. Name of the writing company has been changed.) Companies usually provide a form at policy issue notifying the insured that af ter a specified policy anniversary, they may submit evidence of insurability or other proof satisfactory to the insurer, to have the rating removed. This helps to keep the policy from being dropped if the insured is able to purchase standard insurance els ewhere because of a change in their condition or situation. MISCELLANEOUS RATING SYSTEMS As mentioned earlier, the graded death benefit contract is a method of rating substandard risks, as is the limited death benefit (for a period of 1 -3 years usually). Before the table rating system was developed, it was common practice to limit the amount of insurance in certain health situations. This had the same effect as increasing the premium but was much less “scientific.” Companies will often allow an individual who is not severely impaired to purchase a permanent insurance policy as the company is obtaining the interest in premiums “paid in advance,” or to put it another way, they are accumulating reserves which help to soften the blow of an early death. UNINSURABILITY As discussed earlier, anything above a table 16 is, in most situations, uninsurable. Many insurance companies, primarily the smaller companies, will only keep (retain) risks that are lower than table 10 or 12, but issue the policies by using re insurance facilities as most reinsurers will accept substandard applicants rated Table 16. 174 Individuals who are uninsurable are often “desperate” as they realize that they may not be able to leave their families with funds for them to continue their stan dard of living, to say the least. An uninsurable individual can use annuities, if they have the funds, to set up an “estate,” with tax benefits to the survivors. Several years ago, it was possible for an individual to be accepted for credit life insurance covering a loan amount, usually $10,000 maximum, but more in some cases. This was a guaranteed issue situation, regardless of health. The philosophy of some people that had good credit but were uninsurable, would be to borrow as much as possible that would be covered by credit life and set the borrowed money aside to pay off the loan. Therefore the “premium” for the life insurance would be the credit life premium (and sometimes the lending institution would pick up some or all of those premiums) plus the interest on the loan. There is a documented case of an individual amassing $1 million in credit life insurance, and since it was his practice to pay off each loan at the end of a year and reinstate the full amount in a new loan, he was quite successful , leaving nearly $1 million in “paid-off loans” to his family when he died within 18 months after taking out the loans. The credit life companies complained bitterly when this was discovered, but there was nothing illegal about it at that time. Since that time, most states have issued regulations that will not allow this abuse of the system. A much better course for an un-insurable is to use a “substandard broker” who specializes in getting insurance on the substandard risk. Some insurance companies actually have arrangements with insurers who accept these substandard risks, so that their agents can automatically rewrite the application into the other company. Usually an uninsurable is an uninsurable, but many with high ratings can find insurance if they search, or have their agent search, the market. A declination from one company is not necessarily a declination from all companies. REINSURANCE Reinsurance is a specialized field and there have been textbooks written about the subject, most of which is beyond the scope of this discussion. However, one should be aware of how the reinsurers function if they are to really understand the insurance business. It is safe to say that the life and health insurance would be completely different in the number of policies offered, the issue of other than standard risks, the number of insurance companies, the financial status of smaller insurers, the size of insurance policies, and even, in many cases where a smaller or newer insurer is involved, in the amount of commissions paid to the agents through financial reinsurance arrangements. One very important fact about reinsurance that should be kept in mind: There is no legal relationship between a reinsurance company and an insured. 175 As discussed later, the reinsurance contract is only between an insurance company and the reinsurance company. Simply put, reinsurance is the transfer of all or a portion of a n insurer’s risk through an insurance policy, to another insurance company – insurance of an insurance company, if you will. But a reinsurer does so much more, as evidenced by the definition of Reinsurance in the Dictionary of Insurance Terms, Third edition (Harvey W. Rubin, Ph.D., CLU, CPCU) – “A form of insurance that insurance companies buy for their own protection, a “sharing of insurance.” An insurer (the reinsured, ceding company, or “direct writer”) reduces its maximum loss on either an individual risk or a large number of risks by giving (ceding [“renting” or “leasing” is perhaps a more appropriate word]) a portion of its liability to another insurance company (the reinsurer). Reinsurance enables an insurance company to (1) expand its capacity; (2 ) stabilizes its underwriting results; (3) finance its expanding volume; (4) secure catastrophe protection against shock losses; (5) withdraw from a class or line of business or a geographical area, within a relative short time period; and (6) share large risks with other companies.” In all probability, all life insurance companies (worldwide) rely upon reinsurance. It is truly an international business, as most of the life reinsurance on policies sold in the United States and reinsured on one basis or another, is with foreign reinsurance companies. The oldest reinsurers are a Swiss company and a German company (for those who are curious, during WWII, the German reinsurers transferred their business to non-German companies, and became more-or-less dormant until after the war). Most reinsurance companies provide reinsurance for life and health exposures, and either are owned by or affiliated with, a property and casualty reinsurance company. Some reinsurers are reinsurance departments of “direct-writing” companies and at one time, most U.S. reinsurance was reinsured by the reinsurance departments of large insurers, such as Connecticut General, BMA, Lincoln National, Republic National, American United, Security Life & Accident, etc. Most of the reinsurance business has been transferred to “professional” (meaning they only do reinsurance, and is not a reflection on the professionalism of other companies) reinsurance companies, most of them foreign. RETENTION Retention is the amount of insurance that an insurance company is willing to accept in its own account. The excess over the retention is reinsured, and this is how Collapsible Life of Mississippi is able to compete with Metropolitan for a $1 million policy. (In the Consumer Application previously shown, where a $15 million policy was issued, the issuing company only had $25,000 retention. $14,975,000 was distributed among reinsurers all over the world). If it were not for reinsurers, it is possible that there would only be a half a dozen insurance companies in the U.S. 176 The retention is usually determined by the actuary as it is a function of the company surplus, i.e., what can the company stand to lose in case of a single death, without impairing their surplus. Actually, when a life insurance compan y is formed, a rather modest amount is kept by the company as there is no “spread of risk” or pool of insureds to cushion a sudden death claim. It is to the company’s best interest to keep as much as they can on their own books, as it costs the company to reinsure (reinsurers are profit-minded companies). In practice, when a company is formed, the Board of Directors makes the decision on how large a claim they feel comfortable paying, without hurting the company or causing a stockholder rebellion. A few – very few companies, used to pride themselves on the fact that they did not need reinsurance as they had retentions of $1 million or more, and would not issue any policy above that amount. Today, with so many new types of policies on the market, even the very large company feels the need to spread the risk among reinsurers. TYPES OF REINSURANCE There are two “types” of reinsurance – proportional reinsurance and non-proportional reinsurance. PROPORTIONAL REINSURANCE Proportional reinsurance refers to the arrangements where the reinsurer and the direct writing company share the risk and the premium on some sort of pre -determined contract. Most reinsurance falls into this category. NONPROPORTIONAL REINSURANCE Non-proportional is the simplest (by concept) type of reinsurance. In these arrangements, the reinsurer pays a claim only when the amount of the loss exceeds a predetermined loss limit. The effect of this type of reinsurance is to stabilize the claims of the direct-writer. There are three forms of non-proportional reinsurance. STOP - LOSS REINSURANCE The direct-writer determines the total amount of claims that it can sustain (or wants to sustain) during a year. The reinsurer then pays for the claims above that amount. Premiums usually are adjusted annually to reflect actual claims experience. While this form or reinsurance is simple, it has not worked well to any degree as insurers that have tried this, almost always will practice a form of adverse selection with the reinsurer. The direct-writer will become more “flexible” with their acceptance of risks – after all, if they have too many claims the reinsurer will pay for the direct -writers mistakes. In property and casualty, it called “Excess of Loss Ratio” and as the President of a large property and casualty reinsurer stated at an industry meeting, “the fields are covered with the remains of reinsurance executives who promoted Excess of Loss Ratio reinsurance treaties.” 177 CATASTROPHE REINSURANCE This is a common and successful type of reinsurance, where multiple insured losses which arise from a single accident or incident are covered. Many insurance companies have catastrophe reinsurance, particularly where they have a large concentration of risk, such as writing a lot of group or travel insurance. SPREAD-LOSS REINSURANCE Spread-loss is similar to Stop-loss, except if there are claims with the reinsurer, the claims are spread over a specific number of years which then allows the ceding company to spread its losses over several years. REINSURANCE CONTRACTS The reinsurance contract traditionally is called a “treaty” and in the transfer of risk under proportional reinsurance, there are two types of treaties. FACULTATIVE TREATY Facultative reinsurance is a method of reinsuring where each application is underwritten individually and reinsured individually. The reinsurer may or may not accept the application (risk), may rate the policy because of health or other reasons, or may accept it on the same basis as that of the ceding company. (As discus sed in the previous Consumer Application) The ceding company may keep a retention on the case – which may vary by table rating – or cede the entire amount. Facultative cases are many times submitted to a reinsurer in order to obtain the expertise of the reinsurance underwriting department (which are well-experienced and technically trained, including a medical underwriting department), and after the reinsurer has rendered its decision, the ceding company decides how much of the policy they will keep, if any. The ceding company may submit the case to more than one reinsurer simultaneously or later if it wishes. If the amount is large, the reinsurer may reinsure some of the policy with another reinsurer (this is called a retrocession), or if the reinsurer is unable to find another reinsurer willing to accept part of the risk, then the reinsurer may restrict the amount it is willing to accept. The disadvantages of facultative reinsurance is that it takes time to do all of the underwriting, particularly since most of them involve medical records, and therefore the applicant may purchase insurance elsewhere. Also, it costs money to reinsure, so there is less profit for the ceding company. AUTOMATIC TREATY The Automatic Treaty requires the ceding company to reinsure a portion of all of its reinsurance in excess of its retention at the time the policy is issued, and the reinsurer must accept the reinsurance. 178 The treaty allows the ceding company to “bind” the reinsurer for only a certain amount on each life (a “cap”) – usually a multiple of the company’s retention, such as “threetime retention” - and there can be an agreement to distribute the excess to another company – usually a reinsurance company, but not necessarily. Many direct -writing insurance companies use more than one automatic reinsurer, and traditionally the business is split on an alphabetical basis. For instance, all surnames starting with letters A through M go to one reinsurer, those with letters N through Z go to another reinsurer (it may be split more than 2 ways by dividing up the alphabet, but generally, two automatic reinsurers are all that a ceding company wants, for administrative reasons, unless the ceding company has an unusually large amount of reinsurance). The automatic treaty does affect the facultative treaty(s) as those cases are usually excluded from the automatic treaty. Some automatic treaties may require that they see the facultative cases also, but at the same time, allow other companies to review them also. FACULTATIVE OBLIGATORY A “cross-breed” type of treaty “obligates” the ceding company to submit all facultative business to the reinsurer, who then reviews the case and may or may not accept the policy. Some of these treaties allow the ceding company to place the policy with the facultative-obligatory reinsurer if any other reinsurer has made a “better offer” on the case, in which case the “fac-ob” reinsurer must accept that underwriting decision also. But generally the ceding company must keep part of it also. To reiterate A policyowner must look only to the direct-writing company for any payments that the policyowner is entitled to under the policy. The direct -writing company is responsible for these payments, regardless of the types and terms of any reinsurance agreement between the insurer and reinsurer. REINSURANCE PLANS There are three types of reinsurance plans that can be used for either automatic or facultative reinsurance. YEARLY RENEWABLE TERM (YRT) Yearly Renewable Term is used almost exclusivel y for facultative reinsurance, and for most automatic treaties. Under the YRT basis, the ceding company reinsures the net amount at risk of the reinsured amount, paying the premiums from a table of reinsurance premiums (broken down by age, sex and table ratings). As the reserves increase each year, the net amount at risk decreases, until eventually the ceding company would “recapture” the entire amount. The treaties usually establish a minimum time period for the reinsurance on each case to be in effect, after which the 179 company can start “recapturing” reinsured policies, thereby reducing their reinsurance costs. The YRT premiums are completely different and separate from those premiums charged by the direct-writer to its customers as the reinsurers do no t have to establish reserves and they do not have the expenses – particularly first year commissions – of the ceding company. COINSURANCE As the term implies, each individual case is “co-insured” which is accomplished by the ceding company and the reinsurer sharing a proportionate part of each risk, and under the terms of the policy. The reinsurer then becomes liable for death claims which are determined by the size of the policy in relation to the percentage reinsured. If, for instance, the reinsurer is responsible for one-half of each risk, in case of a death claim the reinsurer pays for ½ of the claim. For this service, the reinsurer receives a certain percentage (pro-rata share) of each original premium, less an agreed-upon amount for a ceding commission and allowances (used for agent’s commissions and other expenses, sometimes for premium taxes also, but generally they are paid to the ceding company separately each year). The reinsurer must establish the necessary reserves on the amount that is re insured; therefore the ceding company must pay the increase in reserves on the amount reinsured each year, to the reinsurance company. MODIFIED COINSURANCE Coinsurance has worked for reinsurance for decades; however companies started asking why they could not keep the reserves for investments, themselves? Under the Modified Coinsurance plan, the reinsurer pays to the ceding company a “reserve adjustment” each year which is equal to the net increase in the reserve during the year, less one year’s interest on the total reserve held at the beginning of the year (as otherwise the reinsurer would not be receiving any interest on funds held, which is an important part of the profit). The effect of this arrangement is that the ceding company receives the bulk of the funds developed by its policies. ASSUMPTION REINSURANCE Policyowners and Life insurance agents may be familiar with this transaction if a policyowner has ever received a notice that thereafter they would be insured by another company. Unfortunately, sometimes the policyowner will become upset and change companies or just cancel the insurance policy as they do not know exactly what is going on. If the reason for the assumption is the financial difficulties of the original company, policyowners can start to doubt the financial stability of the entire industry. A professional reinsurance company would not be involved in assumption reinsurance as far as the policyowner is concerned, but it is method of transferring insurance 180 business from one insurer to another. Many insurers have made the decision to withdraw a policy form or from a geographical area. Assumption reinsurance has also been used when an insurance company suffers financial difficulties and goes into receivership. Many times, the Department of Insurance will dictate the transfer of business or will agree to the transfer. Policyowners must be notified prior to such assumption, and under an NAIC model bill covering assumption reinsurance, a policyowner has a right to consent to or reject the transfer of their policy for a period of 25 months. Some states have shortened this period from 30-days (Washington) to 12 months (Missouri). SURPLUS RELIEF Surplus relief is a technical method of financial reinsurance, where the principal object of the reinsurance arrangement is not just to transfer risk, but in effect, to finance the writing of new business or otherwise the development of the company. This method is used if a smaller company wants to write a lot of new policies, and the coinsurance or modified coinsurance agreement (which reinsures only newly written business) does not help the surplus drain sufficiently, and where the company has a block of business in force. The technical aspects of this type of reinsurance is outside the scope of this text but basically, the reinsurer evaluates the profitability of the block of business, and in effect, “leases” the block of business, paying the direct -writing company commission and expenses equal to the anticipated profits on the block of busin ess (less the reinsurer’s profit). This frees up funds that the ceding company can use to develop new business. Later, the ceding company may make enough profit on the new business written, or use the rapid growth of the company to entice new stockhold ers, or in some other fashion attain enough funds so that they can recapture the reinsured block of business and pay the reinsurer a reasonable amount for the use of the reinsurer’s money during that time. This form of reinsurance has its critics who fear that insurers are “propping up” impaired companies and “forestalling the inevitable” as the company finally goes into receivership, leaving the Department of Insurance to scramble around to find a company that will assume this business (and the formerly-reinsured block does not have much profit left). However, there are substantial companies that have used this type of reinsurance to allow them to explore new areas and keep up with their “better -heeled” competition. 181 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 9 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. “Underwriters” or “home office underwriters” A. are individuals that do the risk selection and classification. B. are individuals who market life insurance. C. deal with certainties. Individuals who are in good health are considered A. a substandard risk. B. a standard risk. C. are the only individuals that apply for life insurance. Adverse selection A. starts when an applicant is uninsurable. B. keeps life insurance premiums high for all insureds. C. stops the “substandard risks” from obtaining life insurance. A factor primarily used in the home office underwriting process is A. the spouse’s occupation. B. the size of the applicant’s house. C. the applicant’s physical condition. The reputation of the applicant in meeting financial obligations A. is not part of the underwriting process. B. only shows that the applicant can pay the premiums. C. can indicate the moral risk involved with the applicant. If the applicant discloses that he/she goes sky diving on the weekend, the insurance company A. will issue the policy at the standard rate. B. many times will add a flat extra premium. C. will not know about it. 182 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. The first source of information, about the applicant, the underwriter looks at is A. the application. B. inspection reports. C. the Medical Information Bureau (MIB). Authorization to release information to the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) A. can be obtained over the phone. B. must be in writing. C. comes from the applicant’s insurance company. If an applicant does not meet the underwriting criteria of Insurance Company A A. the applicant can be denied. B. the applicant can apply to Insurance Company B without telling them about Insurance Company A . C. will inform the Medical Insurance Bureau (MIB) the application was denied. Reinsurance creates a relationship between the reinsurance company and A. the insured. B. the “direct writer” insurance company. C. the life insurance policyowner. A field underwriter A. is an individual who sell life insurance. B. determines what the premium should be for a specific risk. C. decides if an applicant is insurable. The home office underwriter considers and applicant’s __________________, as an important factor when considering an applicant for life insurance. A. address. B. favorite sports team. C. physical condition. 183 13. 14. 15. The use of tobacco by an applicant A. means the applicant is uninsurable. B. may cause mortality experience to worsen. C. will result in lower premiums. Once an individual is “rated” because of their occupation A. they will always pay the higher premium. B. a change in jobs will not affect the premiums. C. their premiums are higher than an individual in a non-hazardous job. Information used in underwriting A. only comes from the applicant. B. can come from the application. C. can, without authorization be shared with other.. Answers to Chapter Nine Study Questions 1A 2B 3A 4C 5C 6B 7A 8B 9A 10B 184 11A 12C 13B 14C 15B CHAPTER TEN - INSURANCE REGU LATION AND ORGANIZATION According to the United States Constitution which recognized that the free flow of commerce between states would be jeopardized by trade barriers between the various states, gave Congress the power to regulate commerce between th e states and with foreign governments. The power to regulate commerce within the states (intrastate) was reserved for the states. However, no state can exercise authority over an area designated as being under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Insurance has traditionally been regulated by the states. In 1869, in a case (Paul v. Virginia), the U.S. Supreme Court did not agree that an insurance policy is an item of commerce. Also, they stated that a state has the authority to prohibit foreign insurance companies from doing business with the state. They stated, “Issuing a policy of insurance is not a transaction of commerce.” They looked upon insurance policies as any other contract between persons which are not interstate commerce, even if the people resided in different states. They ruled that insurance companies are governed by state law and do not “constitute a part of the commerce between the states.” Up until 1944, the accepted practice was for insurance to be regulated solely by the states. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the famous “South -Eastern Underwriters case (United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, et al.) that insurance was indeed “commerce” and therefore could be regulated by the Federal government. This opened up the insurance industry to regulation by states and/or federal laws, including those already enacted that could be applied to insurance. The Congress quickly recognized that there must be some order in the regulatory process, so in 1945 they enacted the McCarran-Ferguson Act which revisited the authority of the states and which provided a plan for cooperation in regulations between the federal and state government. This act allowed the federal government to retain control, either solely or primary, of certain matters that they determined was national in character, such as the National Labor Relations Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Act, and the Sherman Act, to name a few. Furthermore, (and a very important “furthermore”) Congress w as allowed to expand their regulation of insurance by passing specific legislation which would apply directly to insurance. Since that time, other legislation provided some insurance elements to be under federal regulations, such as amending the Securities and Exchange Act in 1964 to cover insurance, and other regulations concerning flood insurance, crop insurance, and more recently, Medicare. Actually, the principal purpose of this act was to encourage more and better (and uniform) state regulations or insurance. This was done by the law stating that certain federal laws which are general in nature (i.e. do not specifically apply to insurance) are 185 made “specific” to the business of insurance to the extent that “such business is not regulated by state laws.” Following the enactment of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) with the readily-available assistance of the insurance industry, created “Model” legislation. This was politically important for the stat es to have more uniform and easily-understood regulations, but in actuality, it was to reinforce the “provision” of the McCarran-Ferguson Act as stated above. Today, the states still maintain primary responsibility for regulating insurance within their states, but the adequacy of state regulation comes under almost continual scrutiny. In 1965, the Health Insurance Association of America, at their annual convention, felt that their very existence had been assaulted by the introduction of the federal progra m, Medicare, but they had to grudgingly admit that since they had not been successful in providing health insurance to the senior citizen population at affordable costs, it must be expected that Uncle Sam would step in. (Even though the Medicare regulatio ns allowed insurers to offer “Supplemental” policies, the federal government felt that they had to step in again and a later date, and create uniform Medicare Supplemental policies and affected regulations which bound all insurance departments and insuranc e companies to abide by a strict uniformity.) There are many arguments for or against state or federal regulation of the insurance industry. Some of the arguments that favor state regulation are: there are already state regulations, states can be more responsive to local requirements and needs, the decentralization of government should always be a goal of industry, etc. Some of the arguments in favor of federal regulation are: it is expensive for insurers (costs are passed to the policyowners) to have to file reports with various states, and abide by different (and sometimes, opposing) regulations, insurance commissioners are often overly responsive to requests by local insurance companies, federal regulations would eliminate conflicts between state regulations, many companies now have foreign ownership or interests and states cannot deal with foreign governments on an efficient basis, etc. FE D E R A L R E G U L A T I O N The federal government exercises its authority in an unusual fashion. Periodically and depending upon the political climate, Congress will hold hearings and otherwise “investigate” the insurance industry on matters of recent interest. By doing this, the federal government is sending a message to the states that the problems investigated, either real or imagined, need regulation by the states or the federal government will step in and fulfill (what they consider) their responsibilities. 186 Of course the Internal Revenue Service exercises considerable authority over insurance companies and insurance products and their design and values through tax laws and regulations. In addition, the IRS also influences the demand for insurance and the taxation of the insurance companies. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 probably has had mo re influence on insurance products and marketing than any other specific federal involvement in the insurance industry. ERISA was passed in 1974 and was originally designed to protect pension-plan funds against raids by unscrupulous labor leaders. It promulgated regulations that safeguards retirement funds, but it also included a clause which preempted any state laws from regulating certain employee benefit programs, including health insurance. This act is considered by many as an unwarranted intrusion of the Federal Government into the business of insurance. The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees the design, operation and the marketing of variable life and annuity products. Insurance companies that are publicly owned must file with the SEC, and the sale and issuing of stock of these companies are very much under the direction of the SEC. One of the most severe critics of the life insurance industry in recent years, has been the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and unfortunately, it exercises va rious degrees of supervision over insurance activities. It still is involved in the oversight of direct -mail insurance solicitations. In the 1970’s, it was very much involved in congressional hearings in life insurance and marketing disclosures. In 1979 the FTC investigated life insurance marketing and issued a controversial report that included detailed recommendations as how to solve the reported consumer problems. This report was strongly contested by the insurance industry and the FTC has been rath er quiet on this front in recent years, especially since the enactment of the NAIC Model Unfair Trade Practices Act (see discussion of NAIC Model bills later in this text). Other federal agencies become involved with the insurance industry when insurers w ork with foreign insurers. NAFTA, for instance, provides that there shall be (relatively) free access between the insurance markets of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and it prohibits discrimination between domestic and foreign insurers of those countries. The federal government also becomes involved in the insurance business through the Bank Holding Company Act which determines and controls the extent that banks can become involved in the insurance business. There was, and still is, considerable concern in the insurance industry as to the competition that could arise if banks have more authority to enter the insurance business. Banks and financial institutions have not only names of their customers, but personal financial information not available to others, that would give a tremendous advantage to banks. Regulators are very much aware of this. However, as a practical matter, bankers have been notoriously incapable of marketing effectively – an area of expertise held by insurance companies – so many experts believe that the threat of financial institutions, particularly banks, is not as strong as it may appear to be. Be that as it may, banks have done a respectable job in 187 marketing certain annuities and as insurance companies become more aggressive in financial products areas, the differences between financial institutions and insurance companies will diminish. STATE REGULATI ON State legislatures issue laws pertaining to the regulation of insurance companies within their jurisdiction, such laws called insurance codes. These laws involving state regulation are described in more detail below, but basically they cover the make -up of the insurance department, licensing of companies and agencies, the filing and approval of insurance forms and rates, and many other areas involving the financial strength of the domestic companies. The state courts are very involved in insurance, as they are usually the final arbiters of conflicts between insurance companies and their policyowners. Not only do they punish those who violate the insurance laws, but they are used by insurers and agents on occasion to overturn certain statutes or regulations that may be arbitrary or unconstitutional. Within each state, there is a Department of Insurance that is under the direction of the state Insurance Commissioner. The Insurance Commissioners are usually appointed by the Governor, but in a dozen states, they are elected. In some states, they have additional responsibilities, such as state auditor or fire marshal, or the departme nt is associated with other departments such as banking or securities. The control of the insurance industry in the state is accomplished through the issue of licenses – from the selling agent to the insurance company. Through licensing, they also contro l the activities of those foreign companies who are not under the direct control of the state regulatory bodies. THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS (NAIC) The NAIC is an association of the Insurance Commissioners of the states and U.S. possessions (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands). Their stated purposes are to maintain and improve state regulations, ensure reliability of insurers as to financial solidity and financial guaranty, and the “fair, just and equitable” trea tment of policyowners and claimants. This Association is comprised of a number of committees which are broken down by line of business, i.e. life, health, property/liability. These committees depend heavily upon the advice, expertise and knowledge of those in the insurance industry and many insurance executives and technicians belong to various advisory groups. Of course, consumer groups criticize this format by insisting that the regulators are “in the hip pockets” of the insurance companies. 188 One of the most important decisions of the NAIC has been the introduction of “Model” regulations, which are bills and regulations agreed upon by the NAIC members as being worthy of consideration by all states. The models have no particular authority, but the NAIC just suggests that the various states adopt the models. In most cases the majority of the states do adopt the models either in their entirety or with modest changes to reflect the individual states political atmosphere. The NAIC, as a matter of self-preservation, has accomplished considerable standardization of forms and solvency requirements. They also created scheduled and unscheduled insurance company examinations by teams of auditors assigned to the particular zone in which they are located. These examinations have uncovered many situations that could have cost policyowners and stockholders of insurance companies dearly. Most possible insolvencies of insurers have been discovered through this examination procedure. The NAIC does a creditable job in policing itself through a method of state accreditation. In fact, those states which are “accredited” do not accept examination reports from states that are not accredited on examination of their domestic insurers and the companies that are domiciled in states that are not accredited, must obtain a second examination from an accredited state. Since the insurance companies pay for their examinations (and which can become quite expensive) this creates considerable pressure on the insurance department to become accredited. This system of accreditation has been subjected to a lot of criticism, but the NAIC insists that any such criticisms are either premature or unfounded – and after all, the opinion of the NAIC is the only one that counts. SUPERVISION BY STATE REGULATIONS The principal purpose of state regulation is that of solvency of insurance companies. There are limits as to the size of risks that insurers can assume, and there are specific requirements for capital and surplus amounts for insurers, reserve liabilities on policies, and regulation of the investments of the insurance companies. The state insurance department also is responsible for the liquidation or conservation of insurance companies that operate within their jurisdiction. Thanks to this responsibility, financial losses to policyowners because of failure of insurance companies in the United States have been miniscule. State insurance laws dictate the requirements for organizing and licensing of insurance companies, and life insurance companies have their own special requirements. It is interesting that health insurance can be written by a life insurance company, a health insurance-only (monoline) company, or a casualty company, and a new health insurer can be organized under the laws governing the organization of life or casualty insurance companies. 189 There are three different types of insurers regulated by the insurance departments: (1) A domestic insurer is domiciled in the regulated state; (2) a foreign insurer is an insurance company which is domiciled in another state or territory; and (3) an alien insurer is an insurance company which is domiciled in another country. The licensing requirements for the various types of companies are similar, as they are all required to maintain specified assets within the regulated state. A foreign insurer often places assets in deposit with the insurance department of their state of domicile, and a certificate to this effect is given to the department of the regulated state. An alien insurer, on the other hand, is usually required to establish a more substantial fund or deposit in trust in the regulated state. They must also assign a resident of the state in which it wishes to do business, to serve as its attorney in case of legal matte rs or legal process. There is a continuing perplexing problem for insurance department, involving the activities of unauthorized insurers. Since they do not file financial statements with the department of insurance, and since their business is usually c onducted through the mail or more recently, over the internet, the insurer attempts to escape regulation. However, the states may take certain actions, some of which involve insurance agents. The NAIC Unauthorized Insurer Model Statute states that no pers on can solicit business or become involved in any fashion, in the transaction of insurance from unauthorized insurers, and further, they cannot represent any person in procuring insurance from an unauthorized insurer. Usually, group life and health insurers are excluded from this Model act, but the NAIC recommends that the life and health insurance policies, usually sold through mass-marketing techniques, still be subject to advertising and claim settlement practices and meet minimum-loss-ratio guidelines that are in effect for authorized insurers in that state. To tighten up a little more, some states prohibit any advertising originating from outside of the state designed to sell insurance to the residents of the regulated states and some states allow the insured to legally void the contract (although that is frequently “closing the barn door…”). Further, in many states, an insured can bring legal action against an unauthorized insurer by serving process on the insurance commissioner of the insured’s state. Obviously, health insurance policies are the type of plans that cause more problems to the insurance departments so some states, a growing number of states in fact, have passed legislation that allows the assumption of jurisdiction over uninsured or partially insured multiple employer trusts or other trusts. States require that policy forms may not be used within their jurisdiction until it has been filed and subsequently approved by the regulating state. The states make their requirements known and in most cases they contain some “model” provisions, such as grace period, incontestability, entire contract, misstatement of age, dividends, surrender values and options, policy loans, settlement options and reinstatement. There are certain standards that must be met, such as that the policy forms must not be ambiguous 190 or misleading, or encourage misrepresentation. Some states follow the model law that states that policy forms may be disapproved if benefits are unreasonable in relation to the premium for the policy. Some states, in addition to state laws, issue administrative bulletins or guidelines, which, to all practical purposes, assume the legality of insurance codes, although they deal generally with administrative matters primarily. Even though the model law requires some relationship between premiums and risk, as mentioned above, life insurance premiums are not regulated except that states establish minimum reserve requirements which would therefore affect the rates as the insurer would need to receive adequate premiums in order to have funds to post the required reserves. Also, insurance companies file annual reports which provide the department with the administrative costs of the insurer. New York and Wisconsin have very complex and demanding laws limiting the amount of expenses that can be incurred in insurance production, thereby limiting commissions on certain products and expenses on existing business. Some states also limit the amount of dividends that may be declared, particularly by a stock insurer. Most states simply believe, and it have been proven correct, that competition is the most important regulator of insurance premiums. No person can act as an agent or broker, and in some cases, fee -paid counselors, without first obtaining an insurance license. Requirements for licensing differ by state, but in general, there must be successful completion of a written examination for the particular license. Each agent must be appointed by an insurance company, who notifies the department of insurance as to the persons appointed by them. An insurance license can be refused or revoked, or suspended, by the insurance department (after notice has been served and a hearing held) because of incompetence or untrustworthiness, fraudulent or dishonest practices, or committing a violation of the law while acting as an agent. Because of the South-Eastern Underwriters Act and the McCarran-Ferguson Act, all of the states adopted the NAIC Model Unfair Trade Practices Act. It should be noted that this Act was so thorough that it replaced the FTC jurisdiction in these matters, as mentioned earlier. This act gives the Insurance Commissioner power to investigate &/or examine companies, hold hearings on the companies transgressions, and issue cease-and-desist orders with penalties for violations. Rebating is one of the actions addressed by this Act, and which is defined as an agent returning any portion of his commission as an inducement for an applicant to purchase insurance from him. Historically, it has been illegal, however there are those critics who feel that these laws preventing rebating prevents purchasers of insurance from 191 negotiating with the sellers of insurance completely. Florida and California do now allow rebating, but with very strict guidelines, and with provisions that there is no unfair discrimination in the granting of rebates, i.e., an agent cannot “pick -and-chose” when and to whom they may offer rebates. Twisting, which is where an agent or broker attempts to persuade a life insuranc e policyowner to cancel one policy and buy a new one by using misrepresentations, is obviously illegal and can cause an agent to quickly lose their license. Replacement, on the other hand, is legal, and is simply replacing one policy with another. Most st ates have laws that require full disclosure of relevant comparative information about existing and proposed policies by an agent trying to convince a customer to switch policies. These laws may provide for notification of the insurance company that issued the existing policy to give it an opportunity to respond to the agent’s proposal. States are quite specific about what information must be disclosed when one policy is discontinued so that another policy may be substituted. Agents are also tightly regulated in respect to handling of funds that belong to policyowners, Misappropriation of funds or misusing funds, is illegal, even on a temporary basis. Also, agents are not allowed to commingle funds, or combine money belonging to policyowners with their own funds. Agents that handle large sums of money in their business are well advised to make sure that under no circumstances, do any funds that belong to the policyowners find their way into an account holding an agent’s personal funds. Another model act is the NAIC’s Model Life Insurance Advertising Regulation and it has been quite widely accepted in regulating the advertising of life insurance. This regulation governs the form and the content of advertisements, including minimum disclosure requirements, and it provides for enforcement procedures by the insurance departments. FINANCIAL REGULATION Every state requires that a financial statement be filed with the insurance department in each state in which the company is authorized to do business. These financial statements (called “blue books” for life insurance companies as their binders are traditionally blue, while those of non-life companies are other colors) are filed at least annually, and may be required to file more frequently if the insurance de partment requires it for solvency matters. Insurance departments distinguish insurance company funds as either Capital & Surplus, or Reserve investments. Capital & Surplus funds can be invested in certain types of investments, such as cash, government bonds and mortgages. The Reserve funds may be invested in other capital investments. No company may make any investments without approval of the Board of Directors, or a committee authorized by the Board to make such investments with appropriate minutes for review by the Board. 192 Valuation of these assets held by the insurance company is a very complicated and detailed procedure, and the valuations are performed according to the Securities Valuation Office of the NAIC. Some states require that a certain a mount of assets be allowed to be invested in certain types of funds or assets, and some simply allow the company to invest according to a prudent-person rule. For instance, in New York, an insurer may hold up to 10 percent of its assets in a Canadian inve stment, but no more than 3 percent in securities from any other company. Res erves The Prospective Reserve is the amount designated as a future liability for life (or health) insurance to meet the difference between future benefits and future premiums. To further illustrate, a Net Level Premium is determined so that this basic relati onship holds: the present value of a future premium equals the present value of a future benefit. This relationship exists only at the time that the policy is issued, and afterwards, the value of future premiums is less than the value of future benefits because fewer premiums are left to be paid. Therefore, a reserve must be maintained at all times to make up this difference. Life insurers are required to establish minimum reserves as established by an attested to by an actuary under state guidelines, a s a liability. The actuary of the insurance company must file a report wherein results of certain cash flow testing results are required. This report, along with a required annual CPA report, allows insurance departments to receive a good financial overv iew of each insurer in their jurisdiction. The insurance departments use the NAIC’s Insurance Regulatory Information System (IRIS) as an early warning measure if an insurance company is heading towards financial difficulty. This is a 2-pronged attack, as the financial reports of the company are analyzed according to pre-determined guidelines and minimums. Then auditors from various insurance departments, analyze the annual statements and other financial information. This information is given to the insurance department of the state of domicile for future action. The state insurance departments can address any problems in their state of a potentially fraudulent nature and take action through administrative sanctions and/or civil actions, such as cease-and-desist actions, license suspension or revocation, or injunctions. The insurance departments have a special activities database which allows the states to exchange information as to the activities of insurance companies and personnel. 193 LIFE AND HEALTH GUARANTY ASSOCIATIONS Every state has some type of guaranty law that gets its funding from assessments against (solvent) insurers that operate in their state. The NAIC Model Guaranty Association Act of 1985 (and amended several times) differs from state -to-state application. Generally, the association is under the supervision of the Insurance Commissioner, and the act covers policyowners who are residents of the state where the insurance company is determined to be insolvent or impaired. Beneficiaries o f the insurance are covered, regardless of where they reside. A maximum of $300,000 in life insurance death benefits will be paid, but not more than $100,000 in net cash surrender values. For annuity cash values and payments (including tax-qualified annuities and structured settlements) coverage is limited to $100,000. (NOTE: This the same amount that is protected by the FDIC on CD’s and bank accounts.) If the insurer fails, the guaranty association will protect the account up to this amount. Regardless, one is hard pressed to recall an instance of an annuity holder losing other than anticipated interest growth, as the principal was always maintained. As a note of interest, health insurance maximum payments are $500,000 for medical expenses covered, $300,000 for disability income, and $100,000 for all other health insurance coverages. NOTE: These limits apply to an individual insured and not on a per-policy basis. If an annuitant had 2 or more annuities with an insurer, the maximum amount of $100,000 would apply, regardless of how much cash value an insured would otherwise receive. The guaranty association funds have weaknesses, and coverage is not uniform among the states. There always exists the hazard of a large insolvency where the assessments of all of the companies in the state might not meet the requirements of the association. TAXATION O F LI FE INSURANCE COMPANIES Life and Health insurance companies in the United States are taxed by the federal and state governments. The states subject insurers to premium taxes which is simple in administering usually as the premiums received from the policyowners are taxed, with certain exceptions, such as dividends and assumed reinsurance. Certain health insurers are typically exempt from state taxation, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield in some states, however this is changing and most of them are now being taxed as any other health insurer. Many consider the state premium tax to be one of the most unfair taxes levied on U.S. citizens, with very good reasons. Only insurance companies are taxed directly on savings. It hits lower-income persons harder than higher-incomes person (regressive tax). There is discrimination against cash value life insurance which is, by its nature, higher priced, and the tax is levied against the premium amount. 194 Elderly and Substandard insureds must pay a higher percentage of tax as their premiums are higher. The premium tax must be paid regardless of how profitable or unprofitable the insurer is. States also levy various forms of taxes, such as income taxes (9 states, but 8 of these states allow offset of premium and income tax). There are also Retaliation Laws that taxes out-of-state insurers operating in its jurisdiction in the same way that the state’s own insurance companies are taxed in the second state. (For example, one state (#1) charges 4% premium taxes on its domiciles insurers. However, if these insurers are charged a higher tax when operating in another state (#2), then state #1 will charge the higher tax to insurers of state #2 who wish to do business in state #1) FEDERAL TAXATION Life insurance companies in the United States are taxed under the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 and they are taxed on their life insurance taxable income (LICTI), which is the gross income less certain deductions, similar to any other corporations, but with certain differences. For tax purposes, “gross income” of a life insurance company is divided into 5 categories: 1. Premiums 2. Investment Income 3. Capital Gains 4. Decreases In Reserves 5. All Other Items Of Gross Income The Internal Revenue considers as income all premiums and considerations received on insurance (or annuity) policies, which include any fees (such as policy fees), deposits, assessments, prepaid premiums, reinsurance premiums and the amount of any policyowner dividends reimbursable to the insurer by a reinsurer. (Reinsurance premiums and reimbursed dividends by a reinsurer are considered to have been taxed previously. If an insurance company must pay premium tax on business th at has been reinsured under certain treaties, the usual practice is for the reinsurer to reimburse this amount to the ceding company.) Premiums or deposits on supplemental contracts and similar sources of premium are considered as gross income. This cate gory of gross income is about 60 to 80% of taxable assets of an insurer. 1. The investment income from interest, dividends, rents and royalties which consists of 20 to 40% of the gross income of a life insurer, is taxed. 2. Life insurers are taxed on capital gains the same as other corporations. 3. Net decreases in insurance (certain specified) reserves produce an income item that is taxed. This may seem “backward”, but life insurance companies are allowed tax 195 deductions when net additions are made to reserves. Therefore, when the reserves are released, this release produces an income item for the company. 4. And of course, there is the inevitable catch-all provision. The IRS leaves no stone unturned when determining a source of income for the government. Life insurance companies are allowed three types of deductions: corporate deductions deductions “peculiar to the insurance business” the small life insurance company deduction Life insurers are allowed the same deductions as general corporations (expenses of operations, benefit plans, etc., etc.). Those expenses that are peculiar to the life insurance business, which, simply put, are deductions for all claims, benefits and losses incurred on insurance and annuity contracts. In addition, there are deductions allowed for certain insurance reserves, such as policy reserves, unearned premium reserves, unpaid loss reserves, advance premium and other similar reserves. Policyowner dividends are another deduction, subject to strict rules. The small company deduction is a deduction (created for political purposes) that was created to stimulate and to assist new and small businesses. This deduction is a maximum of 60% of the LICTI not to exceed $3 million, or a maximum deduction of $1.8 million (60% of $3 million). TAXATION OF DIVIDENDS For many years, mutual insurance companies had a distinct tax advantage over stock companies. Mutual companies often charge higher premiums than stock companies, and then return the excess amount to the policyowner in “dividends.” However, also included in these dividends are distributions of investment and underwriting earnings of the mutual company (don’t forget that a mutual policyowner is effectively an owner of the business also). Many believed, particularly stock insurers, t hat these earnings should not be excluded from corporate income taxation. After all, dividends payable to stockholders are not deductible by corporations. Congress did finally assess the situation when it was attempting to determine the amount of taxation from insurance companies for budgetary purposes, and they discovered that with a 100% policyowner dividend deduction, a mutual insurer may have paid little or no tax. Conversely, however, if they did not allow any deductions, then the legitimate payments to policyowners (as customers, not owners) and which should be deductible under general tax laws, would therefore be denied to mutuals, which meant overtaxing those companies. In order to solve this dilemma, it was determined that the dividend deducti on of mutual companies would be limited. The machinations of this deduction is beyond the scope of 196 this text, but in effect it equalized the taxation with that of the stock companies by a procedure which actually taxes mutual company’s surplus. The acquisition of life insurance and the accounting and taxation of acquisition costs, have always been problematic. In 1990, the Revenue Reconciliation Act created the deferred acquisition tax (DAC) provision. While complicated, the theory behind it was that certain first year (or early years) expenses peculiar to insurance companies, such as commissions, issue and underwriting expenses, etc., should be amortized in order to better match deductions with revenues. At this point, it should be pointed out that for many years, life insurance companies had to provide financial statements under two types of accounting: (1) Statutory accounting as required by the Department of Insurance and which concentrated more on solvency than other financial matters, and (2) Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) which uses the same accounting principles as with any other type of business, and which was necessary for non-insurance financial reporting. The principal difference between the two was the accounting for acquisition expenses. Since under Statutory accounting, high “front-end” acquisition costs were considered as an immediate expense (this is a simplistic explanation) it was frequently necessary for those smaller insurance companies who experienced rapid growt h, to enter into financial reinsurance arrangements with larger reinsurance companies who assumed the drain on the surplus created by these first-year expenses. In essence this was a method of “borrowing” money to pay these expenses, which would be repaid as profits emerged from the block of reinsured business, along with interest. This puts the smaller companies at a disadvantage as their profits would be reduced by the cost of reinsurance, which would otherwise not have been necessary. Without going into more detail – and there is considerable detail involved – the DAC provision of this act created capitalization under GAAP and it specified, by formula, the amount of the insurer’s general deductions. Guess what? The DAC tax substantially raised the life insurance industry’s federal income tax. (Surprise, surprise) Of course the life insurers had to make up for this unexpected and unwelcome added tax by lowering interest rate credits, dividends and other non-guaranteed benefits. Of course, it “solved” the difference problem between GAAP and Statutory accounting. L I FE I N S U R A N C E C O M PA N Y O R G A N I Z A T I O N Life insurance companies are usually classified as stock or mutual, although there are some well-known exceptions, such as the Blue Cross-Blue Shield organizations, fraternals, savings banks and government plans. A stock insurance company is a corporation owned by its stockholders, whereas a mutual insurance company is owned by its policyowners. Worldwide there are more mutual companies, however in the U. S. there are approximately 1500 stock insurers, and only 100 mutuals (this number has to 197 be approximated as there is a lot of activity in company consolidations, purchases and re-structuring). A stock company can be owned by other stock life insurance com panies, by mutual insurance companies, or by non-insurance companies. A mutual company, on the other hand, is owned by policyowners and cannot be owned by anyone else. Both are organized as corporations as that is the only type of legal organization that provides permanence and a high degree of security in respect to the payment of claims. STOCK INSURERS A stock company is organized for the purpose of making profits for its stockholders, and traditionally, issue non-participating and guaranteed-cost insurance policies, and the policyowners do not share in the profits or savings of the company. Stock insurers also issue participating policies, so the difference between mutuals and stock insurers is not as distinct as originally when stock companies could not offer participating plans. Under a stock ownership corporation, a life insurance company must have a minimum of capital and surplus to operate before it can obtain a certificate of authority to operate as a life insurer. During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, many new insurance companies were formed and the capital and surplus requirements were quite modest, depending upon the state and the type of insurance to be marketed. After stock was sold in the company and the company obtained its certificat e, the stockholders were the prime source of new business, with many of the new companies issuing a “special” policy which allowed the policyowner to share in a company profit “as declared by the Board of Directors,” typically. Due to misrepresentation an d the great number of mergers and acquisitions among the “special policy” companies, the states enacted strict regulations and today, such formation and issuance of “special” policies is of interest only as history. MUTUAL INSURERS A mutual company is also a corporation but generally has no capital stock or stockholders, as the policyowner is both a customer and (in a limited sense) an owner of the company. The assets and income of a mutual insurance company is owned by the company and policyowners are generally considered to be “contractual” creditors that has the right to vote for the Board of Directors. In practice, a mutual insurer is administered and assets are held for the benefit and protection of the policyowners and beneficiaries, and the assets are held as insurance reserves, surplus, contingency funds, or dividends that are distributed to the policyowners as the Board of Directors deem appropriate. Mutual companies can, and do, issue non-participating policies, in which case the policyowners are considered only as customers, as in a stock company. 198 It is difficult to form a mutual company, as funds must be available to cover the expenses of operation, make the proper deposits with the insurance department(s), plus a surplus and contingency fund, and this must be done before the insurer is able to collect such funds from its operations. As an example, in New York state, a new mutual must have applications for not less than $1,000 each, from 1,000 persons, plus the full amount of one annual premium for an aggregate amount of $25,000 – plus a cash surplus of $150,000. Obviously, it is not easy to find 1,000 people willing to put up an annual premium in a company that has not as yet in operation, and there is the possibility that the company may never get into operation. Therefore, there has been no formation of a mutual company for several years, and in all likelihood, there will not be any new mutual companies formed. HOLDING COMPANIES Holding companies are financial corporations that own or cont rol (one or more) insurance companies, investment corporations, broker -dealer organizations, consumer finance or other financial service firms. Some stock insurers are owned by conglomerates who are non-financial holding companies that have ownership or control of several companies in unrelated fields. A holding company formed by a stock insurer (or more than one stock insurer) is called an upstream holding company because the holding company sits at the “top” of the organization, as it is owned by the stockholders, and it can, and usually does, own subsidiaries. Conversely, a downstream holding company is usually owned by a mutual company, and the holding company sits in the middle of the corporate structure. It is owned by the mutual company that sits at the top and owns the subsidiaries. Insurance departments prefer the downstream type, as with an insurer (usually the parent mutual company) at the top of the corporate structure, it is regulated by the insurance departments and therefore presents few problems to insurance regulators. However, if the downstream holding company is “viable”, i.e., makes financial sense, the mutual company must be in a very strong position financially in order for the holding company to make acquisitions. In addition, there are strong regulations regarding the amount an insurer (stock or mutual) can invest in subsidiaries. Practically, however, a mutual insurer is limited to making offers for acquisitions only in cash – an expensive way of acquiring other companies. Some states have just recently changed their laws to allow a mutual company to form a mutual holding company with an active stock subsidiary. The stock of the subsidiary is held by the mutual company. This way, a mutual insurer can make acquisitions and mergers through the stock subsidiary. Recently, there have been many mutual companies that have “de -mutualized” primarily in order to obtain equity capital and other financing alternatives, which has become necessary because of the growth of the integration of the financial service industry, making it imperative that the company have an influx of new capital. 199 The basic advantage of the stock life insurance company and its upstream holding company, is that the company can limit the impact of insurance regula tory controls and the restrictions on noninsurance operations placed on the companies by insurance regulators; and it allows acquisitions to be made without depleting the company’s surplus. OUTSOURCING Because of the rapid changes in the financial services industry, insurers have been very active in corporate restructuring and affiliations, and in the way that they do business. One of newer changes is outsourcing which is the process of “farming out” many of their administrative and marketing functions. Many insurers now “brand label” another company’s products, and many will then hire a third-party administrator to handle claims. Investments can be handled by an investment banking firm or other similar asset management company. Administration, which is nearly all handled by computers, is performed by service bureaus. Even marketing can be accomplished by third-party arrangements, direct marketing, or a combination of the two. In some situations, this new generation of insurers has been referred to as “virtual insurers.” In a sense, insurers have become general contractors, with subcontractors performing many of their functions. Of course, management must monitor the performance of the “subcontractors” and this can cause conflict between the insure r management and the “outside” management, but in reality as more competition is available in the various “outsourcers,” the less conflict there will be. HOME OFFICE ORGANIZATION The organization of a life insurance company is basically the same as for m ost other financial organizations that collects, invests and disburses funds. There are many ways of illustrating an organization, with flow-charts, tables of organization, etc., but for purposes of this text, the “departmental” approach will be used. So me of these functions are self-defining, and the various levels are not shown in any area of importance, except for the top levels of authority of course. The operations of a life insurance company involve three basic functions: sell, service and invest. Most insurers have seven functional departments, described below (after the Board of Directors and Executive Officers descriptions): Board of Directors The Board of Directors and its affiliated committees are the top level of authority in the company. In a mutual company they are elected by the policyowners; in a stock 200 company they are elected by the stockholders. It is empowered to select the President and other principal officers, but to delegate to them the authority they need to fulfill their functions. Executive Officers The executive officers are responsible for carrying out the policies as determined by the Board of Directors. They consist of the Chief Executive Officer, President (they may be the same person) and various vice presidents who ar e in charge of their department on a daily basis. Depending upon the size of the company, there are usually several layers of officers, each with a specified supervisory function. Actuarial The actuarial department provides several essential functions. For smaller companies, a consulting actuarial firm may be used for these functions, and even for the larger companies, consulting actuaries are used for auditing, product development, and other services. This department establishes the premium rates, esta blishes and calculates the reserve liabilities and non-forfeiture values, and any other mathematical operation needed. They also analyze earnings and determine dividends and excess credit. They create new policies and forms, and are responsible for fili ng forms with the insurance departments (if there is no in-house legal counsel to perform thisd function). The actuarial department conducts mortality and morbidity studies, supervises the underwriting department in many companies, and works with the ma rketing department in the design of policies. In many of the larger companies, group and annuity operations are under the control of the actuarial department. In many smaller companies, the actuary serves as the executive vice president and is considered the “number 2” man in the company. Marketing Marketing is responsible for the sale of new business, conservation of old business and certain policyowners’ service, supervises agents, and is responsible for advertising, sales promotion, market analysis, recruiting and training of agents. This department will be examined in more detail later. Accounting Accounting and auditing functions are under the direction of the vice president and controller, and establishes and supervises the accounting and control f unctions of the insurer. They are responsible for any auditing and for tax matters. In most companies, the operational computers used by the insurer are under the control of this department. Investment The investment department, usually under the control of an investment vice president, is responsible for the company’s investments and is the custodian for the company’s bonds, stocks and other investments. 201 Legal In addition to all legal matters, the legal department is responsible for regulatory compliance matters, representation of the company in any court matter, and any and all other legal matters. Underwriting Underwriting has been described in detail in a preceding chapter. The head of this department is typically a Vice President and Chief Underwriter, although in some companies they are two different persons. Administration The principal function of the Administration department is to provide home office service to agents and policyowners. They also are responsible for human resources (personnel), home office planning and other similar functions. The corporate Secretary is frequently in charge of this operation in addition to responsibility for Board of Directors minutes, and other company records. The following four areas are typical of life insurance home office Administration: Policyowner Service When Underwriting is finished with its function, Policyowner Service (also called Policyholder Service) takes over and performs all administrative functions from issue to termination, including policy issue, premium billing, agent compensation, and in some companies, claims administration. Not only the agents and policyowners are served by this department, but also services to beneficiaries are performed. Policyowner Service departments may be organized by region, by function (reinstatement, policy loans, etc.) or by product. Claims Administration Because there are difference in claims among product – life and health insurance, for example – claims are usually divided by product. This department is responsible for obtaining all necessary information about the claim, those making the claim, and any other interested party; investigation of possible fraud or invalid claims; and processing claims. Large companies frequently have regional offices to facilitate claims payments. Information Systems The Information systems department has become very important in home office operations because so much administration of all types is performed on computers, including management information and operational information. Because of the need for computers for developing new products and premiums, some information departments (formerly “EDP” departments) are under the control of the actuarial departments. Today, so many other operations depend upon computers, the necessity of having an independent or semi-independent information department is vital. In some companies, there are two separate operations, one operation which uses the large “mainframe” computer, and the other which uses PC’s networked together. 202 Human Resources (Formerly known as “Personnel”) – Human Resources has moved up in importance in the organization, as the value of using the skills and talents of employees to the best benefit of the company has become more apparent. In addition to being responsible for providing the necessary number and type of employees, they are heavily involved in training and professional development, performance appraisal, compensation and many other functions. Laws regarding employee -employer relationships have become more pronounced, so this has also become an important function of this department. MARKETING Marketing has been defined as “the creation of a demand for a company’s products, its distribution, and services for customers who puchase that product.” (Dictionary of Insurance Terms, Third Edition) The Marketing Department (or Agency Department), is the focus of all sales activity within an insurance company, and as a matter -of-fact, the focus of the company. Without the sales of its product, the company has no reason for existing, but it isn’t easy. Depending upon the method of distribution, the Marketing Department personnel varies. Generally there is a Vice President of Marketing (or similar title), and several other Assistant Vice Presidents and their assistants. The responsibilities of the “Agency Secretary” is interesting, as it varies greatly from company to company. In some companies, this is a secretarial or executive administrative position, while in other companies, the Agency Secretary is the 2nd most important person in Marketing, and yet in other companies the responsibilities fall somewhere in between. There is an old adage that “Life insurance is sold, Property and Casualty insurance is bought.” Even with all of the changes in the life insurance industry, this is still true today in most situations. Life insurance is sold through “distribution channels” and generally speaking, there are three distribution channels, marketing intermediaries, financial institutions, and direct response. Marketing Intermediaries The marketing intermediaries are individuals who sell life insurance products, usually on a one-on-one basis and usually for a commission. In North America, 90 percent of all new individual life insurance sales are marketed in this fashion, by agents and brokers. Life insurers fall into two broad classes, those who recruit, train, finance, house and supervise their agents (agency-building); or, those which rely on established agents for their sales, (non-agency-building). 203 Agency-Building Di stribution The agency-building distribution systems are career agencies and general agencies, multiple-line exclusive agencies, home service agencies, or salaried agencies. Career Agencies usually sell one company’s products, and on a commission basis, which is the system used by the largest life insurers. With the branch office system, the agency manager is responsible for the recruiting and training of agents in his territory. The general agency system accomplishes the same thing as the branch office system, but on a more independent basis. Many consider this to be a “theoretical approach” in today’s market, but there are still a significant of highly independent general agents, but certainly not as many as there used to be. Because of the plethora of new products being introduced constantly and the administration and training they entail, many companies have accepted much of the administration and training support previously provided only the the general agent. The general agent is compensated on a commission basis, usually on an overriding commission. Another system is the multiple-line exclusive agency, where the agents are commissioned, but sell only the products of a multiple-line company. Allstate and State Farm insurance companies are two examples of this approach. Most of the agents are multiple licensed and can sell life, health and property & casualty insurance. Over the past 15 years, the number of these agencies has grown by 16%, probably because of the expense of maintaining two different type of agencies. Home Service system is also known as debit, or combination agencies, as they market the small, debit policies, basically still house-to-house on their “debit.” Originally it was industrial insurance, with weekly collections. Today it is ordinary insurance (with typically small face amounts) and premiums either collected monthly, or billed through the mail. Few companies still exist, and the number of home service agents has fallen by 76 percent during the past 15 years. The use of salaried insurer employees is the marketing method of savings bank life insurance in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. Many companies use salaried employees to market group insurance and who typically are paid a salary plus an incentive bonus based on certain goals. (A note regarding the Agency Management. The responsibility of the General Agent or the Branch Manager is primarily recruiting agents. Thepersonal production of the General Agent or Manager is usually not of much importance, and since the turnover of agents is around 25% per year, recruiting is the principal function.) Brokers The term, “Broker” in life insurance describes a commissioned sales person who works independently of the insurer with whom he places business, but he has no particular production or other similar requirements with the insurer. While most career agents “broker” business (verb), it is usually for business that is not accepted by the primary 204 insurer of the agent because the primary insurer do es not offer a policy of that type, the business has been declined or heavily rated by the primary insurer, or sometimes the client wants quotes from more than one insurer. A broker (noun) can also refer to independent life insurance producers who have no particular loyalty to any one company, but they specialize in certain products or markets. They are highly independent and are some of the most knowledgeable of all agents. A broker is also a salesperson whose primary product is not insurance, such as r eal estate agents, automobile dealers, etc. Personal-Producing General Agents The personal producing general agent (PPGA) are independent comissioned agents who usually work alone and market on a personal production basis. There are two types, traditional and Master General Agent (MGA). With the traditional approach, the insurer hires experienced life insurance agents with a contract that offers direct commissions and override commissions, plus an office allowance. The MGA approach is usually used for a single product, such as universal life or a health insurance product. Independent Non-life Agents Independent property and casualty agents sell products for several companies on a commission basis and many times the companies that they represent will hav e life insurance affiliates. The agents are encouraged to take advantage of their P&C clientele as customers for life insurance. Life insurers who have P&C affiliates have tried for many years and spent a lot of money in training of non -life agents, in order for them to produce life insurance. Usually the efforts and expense of the life insurers has been for naught, because, as a general rule, P&C agents simply do not put forth the sales effort to be successful in life insurance asnd they are uncomfortab le selling an unfamiliar product, particularly a product so different from their “bread and butter” products. Large Producer Groups Producer groups are independent marketing organizations that specialize in large premium policies, frequently high substandard business or a specialized product, annuity, etc., that have special commissions from the insurers. The members must provide the necessary sales and marketing staff and assistance to the members of the group. Minimum production is usually required for all members of the group. Financial Institutions Life insurance can now be sold by banks, thrifts, credit unions, mutual funds organizations and investment banks. These are not large volume marketers at this time as banks are responsible for only 5% of all life insurance but they write 20% of the annuities. Securities firms are rather new entrants into the life insurance arena, and are starting to sell a significant share of variable products. 205 Direct Response Direct response, which includes telemarketing and ads run on television, radio and in newspapers, only accounts for about 2% of total life insurance sales in the U.S. Proportionately, direct response is the area that generates (probably) the most complaints by agents and consumers alike because there is no “interface” with agents. Usually the products are rather simple and originally they were rather basic policies providing supplemental life or health coverage. However, the science of direct response marketing has evolved to where many forms of life and health insurance are offered, as well as estate planning and annuities. The clients deal with the insurer by mail after the sale. Direct mail is the oldest form of direct-reponse marketing of insurance products, with names and addresses available from a number of specialty companies that supply requested lists. In some cases, an organization may be a sponsor, and the insurer will make an arrangement to offer its products to the membership. Commercial on-line networks and the Internet are now available to shoppers, with insurance quotes of several companies provided through the Internet, and many insurance companies will provide quotes and take an application through the Internet. Most insurers have a web page on the World Wide Web that can p erform these functions. T H E FUT URE O F L I FE I NS UR AN CE The ownership of individual life insurance in family households over the past several years, has not been encouraging. In 1960, nearly 75% of all family households owned individual life insurance, but today, not quite 50% of households do. However, the number of households that owned group insurance has grown rapidly. The average age of Americans is increasing and life insurers are having to provide insurance arrangements to facilitate the needs of an older population. The recent introduction of accelerated death benefits attest to this. Longevity has increased substantially and for many, the problem of outliving the assets in retirement is more important to many, than the problems of premature death. At the present time, about 60 percent of the costs of health, retirement security and long-term care is borne by the government. These needs will continue to grow, but the ability of the government to pay for them at the present levels is quite questi onable. If the private sector continues to provide for spending for these needs, considerable and increased financial and political pressure can be anticipated. Life insurance still is considered as the best method of family protection in case of premature death of the family breadwinner, but even the definition of “family” can cloud this consideration. With so many single-parent families, the purpose of life insurance has to change somewhat in order to provide for children who would be 206 orphaned upon the death of their only parent. The importance of life insurance for children’s education and for retirement, has decreased in the public’s conception in recent years. Many companies have compensated for this by establishing broker -dealer firms to help market investment products such as variable life and variable annuities, universal life and variable universal life, and mutual funds. Today, more than 40% of the insurance agents in the U.S. are licensed to sell variable products, and more than half of all individual annuity premiums are from sales of variable contracts. In respect to retirement and health care, these areas should show increases in the future because of several factors. Perhaps the most important factor is the fact that the population is aging, and the “senior citizens” are very security-conscious. The government has reduced their desire to provide for the full individual security of every citizen, leading many to become concerned about their own personal financial security. Another extremely important factor is that corporations will try to assist employees in becoming more independent in respect to their personal financial security, but at the employee’s expense. Insurer’s and others in the health care industry, have announced an average of 15% increase in medical insurance premiums for the year 2002. With the present political situation, especially with the terrorist war situation, companies are going to seek and find ways to reduce their own employee benefit costs. In any event, the life insurer of the future - and not too distant future – will be larger and more efficient, and will be more market-focused. One of the biggest problems with the industry as it now exists, is that it is one of the most inefficient industries in the way that it markets its products. For a variety of reasons, inefficiencies and competition must be included as major problems, and in addition, profit margins on new products have been slipping drastically. Many companies have focused on only “high end” markets. Many medium-sized insurers will grow through normal growth plus mergers and acquisitions, which is in reality a continuation of the processes initiated several years ago. Smaller companies will have a difficult time surviving, except for those fortu nate enough to be in a “niche” market – this too, was forseen at least 15 years ago. Marketing will continue to be under scrutiny in its efforts to write more profitable business at a lower acquisition cost. Like it or not, it is inevitable that insura nce companies will market more through non-agency building distribution channels. Those companies who have focused on estate and financial planning and insurance products with tax implications, should continue to do what they have done. This will still be a market that is dominated by agents and it will continue to use life insurance and other financial products. It is likely that more agents, financial and estate planners, will perform their services on a fee basis. The effect on the new 2001 tax law s on estate and financial planning still remains to be seen, but it is not expected that the impact will be large after “the dust has settled.” In some fashion, it is also likely that 207 life insurance will be more a part of a larger financial service arena, than as a standalone product. The size of the middle income market will continue and will probably grow. The focus will still be on needs and marketing organizations will use the Internet, telemarketing, financial institutions and other types of distribution systems. The products that will be marketed the most successfully should continue to be interest -sensitive and variable products, as well as the basic term insurance and traditional cash -value products. The sale of annuities should continue to grow. The lower-income, smaller product market will continue to be served by worksite marketing, direct-response marketing, financial institutions and government programs. Home service will probably continue, but in a smaller scale, while direct -marketing by using the Internet for advertising and information sources, including some direct sales, should continue to grow. There are over 5 million firms in the United States with less than 100 employees, and many of them do not have group insurance, retirement plans or business insurance. The need for insurance continues to be great in this market. Many small companies do not offer any benefits to their employees or have any business continuation life or health insurance. Traditionally, smaller businesses are served mostly by career agents, and this should continue. Large corporations, on the other hand, will more frequently be served directly by insurers, as many have had “cost-plus” or administrative-service-only groups which have proven quite cost effective for the employer and the insurers. There is a trend now to market products directly to corporate employees, primarily middle -income employees. This trend will continue to grow and insurance “advisors” and consultants could play a more prominent role in this trend. Companies must devise ways to more efficiently deal with agent and field management compensation. If the companies do not take significant action in these areas, they will continue to obtain business that they may not want, and at a price th ey cannot afford. Proper consideration of the agent’s goals in respect to the commission structures, will determine the future of compensation and distribution. 208 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 10 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Congress received its power to regulate commerce A. between states from the United States Constitution. B. within the state (intrastate) from the United State Constitution. C. from the state department of insurance. Typically, the Federal government exercises its authority over the insurance industry by A. appointing a new Federal Insurance Commissioner. B. Congress holding hearings and “investigating” the industry. C. by organizing the NAIC. The principal purpose of state regulation in the insurance industry is A. is to license insurance agents. B. to enforce the NAIC Model Unfair Trade Practices Act. C. that of solvency of insurance companies. Life insurance premiums A. are not regulated. B. are regulated by the NAIC. C. and benefits forms are not regulated by the states. The state insurance department can revoke an agent’s license for A. selling a term life insurance policy. B. attempting to persuade a policyowner to cancel one policy and by a new one by using misrepresentation. C. establishing a separate bank account for premiums. Money the insure company receives as premiums is A. placed in an unregulated general fund. B. used by the insurance company as it sees fit. C. placed in either Capital and Surplus, or Reserve investments. 209 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Most states has some type of guaranty law, pertaining to life and health insurance companies. A. The act covers policyowners who are residents of the state when the insurance company is determined to be insolvent or impaired. B. This guaranty for an annuity owner, covers principal and anticipated interest. C. The guarantee limit applies to each policy or contract an individual might have. Life insurance companies in the United States are taxed by A. the federal government, and exempt from the taxation by individual states. B. each state, based on net income; gross income less deductions. C. both the federal government and state government. A company that is organized for the purpose of making a profit for it’s stockholder, and usually the policyowners do not share in the profits of the company, is A. a mutual insurance company. B. an up-stream holding company. C. a stock insurance company. Which department of a typical life insurance company established the premium, calculates the reserve and creates new policy forms? A. Marketing. B. Actuarial. C. Accounting. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1869 ruled that A. insurance companies are governed by state law. B. the sale of insurance by way of television, was interstate commerce. C. foreign insurance companies can be prevented from doing business in another state by the federal government. One of the main arguments used by states to maintain the regulation of insurance with the individual states is to A. create political jobs within the department of insurance. B. reduce paperwork. C. be more responsive to local requirements and needs. 210 13. 14. 15. Today ____________________ still maintain primary responsibility for regulating insurance. A. individual states. B. federal government. C. state insurance commissioner. The stated purpose of the _________________ is to maintain and improve state regulations, ensure reliability of insurers, and the “fair, first and equitable” treatment of policyowners and claimants. A. state legislatures. B. the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). C. state insurance department. ________________ has no particular loyalty to any one insurance company, but specialize in certain products or markets. A. An independent life insurance agent. B. A career agent. C. An Allstate agent. Answers to Chapter Ten Study Questions 1A 2B 3C 4A 5B 6C 7A 8C 9C 211 10B 11A 12C 13A 14B 15A GLOSSARY 401(k) Plan A profit-sharing plan established by an employer in which there are three types of contributions: employer contributions, employee contributions from after-tax income; and employee salary reduction (elective) contributions. 403(b) annuity A tax-deferred annuity in which an employer sets aside a portion of the money that would otherwise be part of an employee’s pay. A Absolute assignment: See Assignment, Absolute. Accelerated death benefit: Provisions or riders involving the payment of all or a portion of a life insurance policy’s face amount prior to the insured’s death because of some specified, adverse medical condition of the insured. Accidental bodily injury: A clause stating that a bodily injury must meet one test to be a covered loss: The result (the injury itself) must be unforeseen or unexpected. Accidental Death Rider: An attachment to a life insurance policy that provides for payment of an additional benefit if the insured's death results from an accident as defined in the rider. Sometimes referred to as double indemnity because many such riders pay double the face amount of the policy to which they are attached. Accidental Death and Dismemberment Rider: An attachment to a life insurance policy that provides for payment of an additional benefit if the insured's death results from an accident as defined in the rider or payment of an additional benefit for accidental loss of certain limbs and/or eyesight, depending upon the particular rider. Accidental means: A clause stating that a bodily injury must meet two tests to be a covered loss: Both the cause of the injury and the result (the injury itself) mus t be unforeseen or unexpected. Accumulation Period: For an annuity, the period during which money is paid into the annuity and left to earn interest until the liquidation or payout phase begins. Compare to Liquidation Phase. Accumulation Units: Funds invested in a variable annuity; the number of accumulation units purchased depends upon the dollar amount invested and the value of a single accumulation unit at the time of investment. Investors never have fewer accumulation units than the number purchased, but the value of the accumulation units fluctuates with the performance of investments in the separate account. Compare to Annuity Units. Actual authority or powers: With regard to authority extended to an agent acting on behalf of an insurance company, the authority that is expressly stated in a contract between the agent and the insurance company. Also called express authority Actuaries: Individuals who determine insurance premiums and reserves using their best estimates of future losses and expenses, with an eye towards competitiveness. 212 Adhesion. Contract of. Refers to the characteristic of an insurance policy that requires one party, the insured/ policyowner, to "adhere" or agree to terms stipulated by the other party, the insurer, with little or no optio n to negotiate the terms. Admitted insurer. An insurance company that has been authorized by a state's insurance department to do business in that state. Also called an authorized insurer. Adverse selection. From an insurance company's perspective, the selection and subsequent insuring of too many higher risk insureds as compared to insureds who pose a lower risk of loss. Adjustable Premium Whole Life Insurance. See Universal Life Insurance. Adjusted gross estate. The gross estate less all allowable deductions except bequests to the surviving spouse and to charities. Administrator. A person appointed to administer a decedent’s estate. Agency Authority. Authority to act on behalf of a principal, such as an insurance company, that the principal grants to its agents-those who represent it. Also called powers of agency. See Actual, Apparent, Express and Implied Authority Agent. One who represents and acts on behalf of another known as the principal. In the insurance business, the agent acts on behalf of the insurance company, selling that company's policies. Compare to Broker. Agent's Statement. A portion of an insurance application that is completed by the agent, providing any information the agent has about the applicant and the agent's opinion and recommendations about the applicant's insurability and suitability for coverage. Aleatory Contract. Refers to the characteristic of an insurance policy that both parties to the contract do not necessarily offer equal value. Alien Insurer. From the perspective of an insurance company domiciled in the United States, refers to an insurance company organized under the laws of another country. American Agency System. See Independent Agent. Amount at Risk. In a life insurance policy that accumulates cash values, refers to the difference between the face amount (death benefit), and the policy's cash value, which is the pure insurance protection. Annual renewable term. Term policies with level death benefits and premiums increasing annually. Annuitant. The person designated to receive income payments from an annuity during the liquidation phase. Annuity. A product marketed by life insurance companies into which an individual, the annuitant, makes either a single large premium payment or a series of smaller payments over a longer period known as the accumulation phase, alter which a scheduled flow of income is paid for the annuitant's lifetime or for other periods according to the annuity contract. 213 Annuity Units: In a variable annuity, the fixed number of units used for dete rmining the amount of income payments to the annuitant, resulting from the conversion of accumulation units purchased during the accumulation phase. Once fixed, the number of annuity units remains level throughout the liquidation phase, but the value of ea ch unit fluctuates with the performance of investments in the separate account. Compare to Accumulation Units. Apparent Authority or Powers: With regard to authority extended to an agent acting on behalf of an insurer, authority an agent is reasonably beli eved to have from the perspective of a third party. Application: In the insurance business, the applicant's request for an insurance company to provide a life insurance policy, including information about the applicant that permits the insurer to decide whether to issue the policy as requested. Assignment: Transfer of an insurance policy's ownership rights and/or benefits from one person to another. Absolute: A policy assignment under which all rights and control are fully and permanently transferred to another person. Collateral: A policy assignment to a creditor as security for a debt, permitting the creditor to first recover its outstanding loan if the policyowner defaults on the loan or if the insured dies before paying off the debt. Conditional: A policy assignment subject to certain conditions as specified in the assignment and occurring only if those conditions actually occur. Partial: A conditional policy assignment under which only a portion of the rights and/or benefits are assigned. Assumed interest rate (AIR): The minimum interest rate that an insurance company has determined the cash value of a variable life insurance policy must earn in order to cover the cost of insurance. Attained age: The current age of an insured person or the age the person will be at some time in the future. Compare to Original Age. Authorized Insurer: An insurance company that has been admitted or authorized by a state's insurance department to do business in that state. Also called an admitted insurer. Automatic Premium Loan Provision: An optional life insurance policy provision that allows the insurer to borrow from the policy's cash value to pay a premium the policyowner fails to pay during the grace period, thus keeping the policy in force. If the provision is activated, the premium payment is treated as a loan and interest is charged to the policyowner. Automatic reinsurance treaty: Where the direct-writing company must transfer an amount in excess of its retention of each applicable insurance policy to the reinsuring company immediately upon payment of premium and the issuance of the policy, and the reinsurer must accept the transfer that falls within the scope of that agreement. 214 Aviation Exclusion: A provision commonly included in certain life insurance policy riders stating that the rider does not apply if death or disability occurs from an aviation accident unless the insured was a passenger on a regularly-scheduled flight of a commercial airline. B Back-End Loading: A method of charging sales and administrative expenses associated with a life insurance policy under which no charges are deducted from premium payments before they are deposited into the cash value account; instead, charges or loads apply later when certain trams-actions occur. Also see Front-End Loading, Loading and No-Load. Bailout: A feature in some annuity contracts permitting the buyer to terminate the annuity if the interest rate the insurer pays falls below a rate specified in the contract. Buyer may withdraw all principal and interest earned without paying surrender charges. Beneficiary: In a life insurance policy, the person or entity designated to receive the death benefit when the insured person dies. Contingent or Class II: An alternate or second named beneficiary designated to receive the death benefit only if the primary beneficiary dies before the insured dies. Irrevocable: A beneficiary designation that may never be changed; no policy transactions may occur without the consent of an irrevocable beneficiary. Primary or Class I: The first named beneficiary designated to receive the death benefit when the insured dies. Revocable: A beneficiary designation under which a different beneficiary may be named at any time at the policy-owner's option; the most common type of beneficiary designation. Binding Receipt: A type of conditional receipt under which the insurance company agrees to pay a small death benefit if the applicant dies within a specific limited period of time whether or not the insurance company would ultimately decide to issue the policy. Branch Office: Refers to an insurance distribution arrangement whereby the insurance company owns the office and pays an agent to manage the office and other insurance company employees. Also called a managerial system Broker: (noun) One who is in the business of selling insurance, but who represents clients rather than insurance companies, seeking the best insurance policy for client needs. Compare to Agent. (verb) The act of submitting insurance a pplications to various insurers Business Continuation Insurance: Refers to insurance purchased for the purpose of funding a buy/sell agreement for business owners. Also called business insurance: Also see Buy/Sell Agreement Business Insurance: See Business Continuation insurance. 215 Buy/Sell Agreement: An agreement between business partners that if a business owner dies, his or her interest in the business will be sold to and purchased by specified others for a predetermined price. Life insurance policies are a common method for funding such an agreement. Also see Business Continuation Insurance. Buy term and invest the difference: Where an individual purchases a low-cost term insurance policy instead of a cash-value policy, and invests the difference between the premium into a mutual fund or other investment media. Bypass trust: A trust that holds property not left to the surviving spouse, also known as a credit shelter trust, non-marital trust and residuary trust. C Capital stock and surplus: the excess of company’s assets over its liabilities. Career agents: Commissioned life insurance agents who primarily sell one company’s products. Cash Accumulation Value: The amount credited to a cash value life insurance policy that the insurer pays interest on, also referred to as cash value Compare to Cash Surrender Value. Cash or Deferred Arrangement (CODA): An arrangement whereby an employee defers receiving a portion of current income to allow the employer to contribute that portion to a retirement plan, especially a 401 (k) plan. Also called a salary reduction plan Cash Surrender Value: In a cash value life insurance policy, the amount of monies the policyowner would receive if the policy was surrendered. Compare to Cash Accumulation Value. Cash Value: See Cash Accumulation Value and Cash Surrender Value. Cash-value accumulation test: Test applying mainly to traditional cash-value policies requiring that the cash surrender value not at any time exceed the net single premium required to fund future contract benefits. Cash-value corridor requirement: Under tax laws regarding life insurance policies, fulfilled if the policy’s death benefit at all times is at least equal to certain percentage multiples of the cash value. Cash value life insurance: A life insurance policy that includes a savings feature whereby a part of each premium is paid into an account that builds cash values upon which the insurer pays interest. The cash value is owned by the policyowner and may be used as collateral for loans or paid to the policyowner upon surrendering the policy to the insurer. Also called permanent life insurance Catastrophe (catastrophic) insurance: Contract that covers multiple insured losses arising from a single accident or occurrence. 216 Certificate of Insurance: Under a group insurance plan, the evidence of insurance provided to the group members in lieu of an actual policy, with the policy or master contract being held by a master policyowner, such as an employer. Certified Financial Planner (CFP): A designation awarded by the College of Financial Planning, or one who has earned the designation by meeting certain experience requirements, completing a specific course of study and successfully passing examinations on topics related to financial planning services and products. Charitable remainder trust (CRT): A living, irrevocable tax-exempt trust in which the donor contributes property to the trust, reserving to himself or herself or someone else, an income stream from the trust, with the residual trust corpus ultimately passing to a charity. Charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT): A trust the pays a fixed percentage of the fair market value of its assets to the income beneficiary at least annually. Trust assets are revalued each year, so the income will vary by year. Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC): A professional designation awarded by the American College, or an individual who has earned the designation by meeting experience requirements, completing a specific course of study and successfully passing examinations on topics related to financial planning services and pr oducts. Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU): A professional designation awarded by the American College, or a life insurance agent who has earned the designation by having the required experience, completing a specified course of study and successfully passing examinations on topics related to life insurance company products and operations. Classification: The process of assigning a proposed insured to a group of insureds of approximately the same expected loss probabilities as the proposed. Close corporation; closed corporation; closely held business: Businesses whose ownership interests have no ready market. Usually owned and managed by same person(s), with small number of owners and ownership interest not readily marketable. Coinsurance plan: A reinsurance plan under which the reinsurer assumes a proportionate share of the risk according to the terms that govern the original policy. Collateral assignment: A temporary transfer of only some policy ownership rights to another person. Collateral Assignment: See Assignment, Collateral. Commingling: Holding policy owner’s money in an account with other funds of the insurer. Commissioner of Insurance: The person designated to oversee a state's insurance department and to be responsible for enforcing the state's insurance laws and regulations, called superintendent of insurance in some states. Commissioner's Standard Ordinary Table (CSO): See Mortality Table. 217 Common Disaster Provision: A provision often included as part of the beneficiary designation of life insurance policies to resolve the question of whether an insured died before or after the primary beneficiary when both ultimately die from a common event; provides for policy proceeds to be held in trust for three months. If the primary beneficiary is still alive after three months, the death benefit is paid to that person. If the primary beneficiary dies before the three-month period ends, proceeds are paid to the contingent beneficiary. Concealment: By an applicant or insured, the withholding of material inf ormation from the insurance company in order to gain a benefit that would not have been available had the insurance company known the concealed facts. Conditional Assignment: See Assignment, Conditional. Conditional Receipt: A receipt for premium payment given to the insurance policy applicant, stating the conditions under which the insurance will be considered to be effective as of the date of the receipt. Also see Binding Receipt. Consanguinity: A blood relationship. Consideration: Refers to an exchange of value in a contract. In an insurance contract, the policy owner’s consideration is the premium paid and the insurer's consideration is the insurance protection provided. Consumer reporting agency: US Fair Credit Reporting Act defines as an inspection company that collects and sells information about individual’s employment history, financial situation, credit-worthiness, character, personal characteristics, mode of living, and other possibly relevant personally identifiable information. Contestable Period: A specified period, usually one or two years, beginning on the insurance policy effective date, during which the insurer may challenge or contest information provided by the applicant. After the contestable period ends, the insurer may not void the policy. Also see Incontestable Clause. Contingent beneficiary: See Beneficiary, Contingent. Contract: A legal agreement that is enforceable if it is between two or more competent parties, has a specific purpose and that purpose is legal, and value or consider ation is included as part of the contract. An insurance policy is a contract. Contributory Plan: A group insurance plan that requires at least a portion of the premium to be paid by participants in the plan. Participation is optional for each group member, but a high number, usually at least 75 % of eligible group members must choose to participate. Compare to Noncontributory Plan. Convertible Term Insurance: A type of term insurance that permits conversion of the policy to cash value life insurance within the time limits specified in the policy. Conversion privilege, Group Life: In some group life insurance plans, a feature that allows the insured to convert the coverage to individual cash value life insurance policy upon leaving the group, usually without proving insurability. The privilege generally must be exercised within 30 or 31 days after separation from the group. 218 Corporate Stock Redemption Plan: A method used by the owners of closely held corporations to allow the corporation to purchase shares of a deceased stockholder's stock as part of a buy/sell agreement that may be funded by life insurance. Also see Business Continuation Insurance and Buy/Sell Agreement. Cost basis: Under income tax law, the sum of the premiums paid of a life insurance policy less the sum of any dividends received in cash or credited against the premiums. Cost of insurance: The contributions each insured must make as his or her pro -rata share of death claims in any one year. Cost of Living Rider (COLA): A rider that may be added to a life insurance policy giving the policyowner the option to purchase an additional amount of insurance to help offset the effects of inflation. The amount of insurance available is tied to the consumer price index and has a maximum upper limit per year. For whole life policies, the additional amount is usually provided by one-year term insurance. For universal life policies, the death benefit simply increases. Cross-Purchase Plan: A type of buy/sell agreement under which each partner purchases and owns a separate life insurance policy on every other partner's life and receives the death benefit if any partner dies. Compare to Entity Purchase Plan. Credit Life Insurance: A form of group insurance available to creditor-debtor groups wherein the creditor is the beneficiary of a term insurance policy on the debtor's life; used to protect the creditor's interest. Crummey trust: A trust in which the annual $10,000 gift tax exclusion is available for gifts made to the trust if funds are withdrawn by a benef iciary within a limited time period. Current Assumption Whole Life Insurance: See Interest-Sensitive Whole Life Insurance. Current Declared Interest Rate: In a flexible premium deferred annuity, the interest rate the insurer is currently paying and will pa y for a specified period, may be adjusted at the insurer's discretion and remains in effect for another specified period. Current Interest Rate: In nontraditional life insurance policies, an interest rate comprised of both the minimum guaranteed interest r ate specified in the policy and the excess interest rate which is an unspecified rate in excess of the guaranteed rate. Also, see Excess Interest Rate & Guaranteed Interest Rate. D Death Benefit: In a life insurance policy, the policy proceeds or amount t hat is paid to a beneficiary when the insured dies. Death proceeds: The policy face amount and any additional insurance amounts paid by reason of the insured’s death, such as accidental death benefits and the face amount of any paid-up insurance or any term rider. Debit insurance: Any type of insurance sold through the home collection of premium system of marketing. 219 Decreasing Term Insurance: A type of term insurance under which the death benefit gradually decreases over the term of the policy until it ev entually reaches zero and the policy expires, often used to cover a homeowner during the period of a mortgage. Available both as a separate policy and as a rider attached to a cash value life insurance policy. In some riders, the face amount may decrease to a certain amount at which point the amount remains at that level until the end of the term, when it abruptly drops to zero. Compare to Increasing Term Insurance and Level Term Insurance. Deferred Annuity: A type of annuity under which the liquidation phase is deferred until some time in the future, with the buyer making flexible annuity premium payments that accumulate and earn interest until the liquidation phase begins. Also refers to deferred taxation of interest paid on the annuity. Compare to Immedia te Annuity. Defined Benefit Plan: A type of corporate retirement plan under which the amount of the retirement benefit is defined or established in advance according to a predetermined formula. Contributions are then made with the objective of providing th e predetermined benefit. Compare to Defined Contribution Plan. Defined Contribution Plan: A type of corporate retirement plan under which a specified formula is used to determine the amount of the contribution that will be made for participants, while the exact amount of future benefits remains unknown. Compare to Defined Benefit Plan. Direct Recognition: A principle applied to participating life insurance policy dividend payments that takes into account the interest rate the insurer earns on an outstanding loan and the dividend interest rate the company assumes would have been earned on the borrowed cash value if that amount had not been borrowed. When direct recognition is applied, policies without loans outstanding are paid a higher dividend than those wi th loans outstanding. Direct response: Distribution channel in which the customer deals directly with the insurer without any intervening intermediary or firm. Direct Writer: Refers to an insurance distribution system wherein insurance companies deal directly with potential clients rather than using agents. Disability: Inability to perform gainful employment. Total disability is defined in one of two ways for insurance purposes: (1) inability to perform the individual's previous work or work for which the individual is qualified by training or experience or (2) inability to perform any type of gainful employment. Disability Income Rider: A type of rider that may be attached to a life insurance policy to provide a monthly income if the insured becomes disabl ed according to the insurer's definition of disability. Disintermediation: When a person borrows at one rate and can invest the loan proceeds at a higher rate. Dismemberment: Refers to the loss of certain parts of the body. In the accidental death and dismemberment rider, typically refers to the loss of certain limbs and is used inclusively for loss of eyesight when such loss is covered. Also see Accidental Death and Dismemberment Rider. 220 Distribution system: Any of several different methods by which life insurance products are marketed. Dividend: In a participating life insurance policy, a refund to the policyowner of excess premiums paid when an insurer experiences more profit than anticipated due to savings on operating expenses, improved mortality or higher investment returns. Dividend options: In a participating life insurance policy, any one of several options under which the policyowner may choose to use dividends, such as: cash dividend, premium reduction, paid-up policy, paid-up additions, accumulation at interest or oneyear term insurance. Domestic insurer: From the perspective of a given state, an insurance company organized and operating under the laws of that particular state. Compare to Alien Insurer and Foreign Insurer. Domiciled: In reference to an insurance company, indicates the location of the home office, the state where the insurance company was organized, e.g., "domiciled in Ohio." Double Indemnity Rider: See Accidental Death Rider. Downstream holding company: Formed by a mutual insurance company and sits in the middle of the inter corporate structure. E Education IRA: A tax-favored trust of custodial account created to pay the cost of a beneficiary’s education. Eligibility period: Under a group insurance plan, a short period after em ployees first become eligible to participate in the plan, often 30 days, during which employees must enroll in order to acquire coverage without proving insurability. Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA): Federal law enacted to protect the interests of participants in employee benefit plans as well as the interests of the beneficiaries. Endorsement: Technically and historically, a provision added to an insurance policy by being written on the policy form. Often used inter -changeably with the term “rider” to indicate a provision added by attachment to the policy. Endowment: A promise to pay a certain sum in case the insured dies within the term of the policy or the same sum if the insured survives the period. Entity Purchase Plan: A type of buy/sell agreement under which a business partnership as an entity purchases and owns a life insurance policy on the life of each partner. If a partner dies, the death benefit is paid to the partnership entity. Compare to Cross-Purchase Plan. Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O) : A form of professional liability insurance that insurance agents may purchase to cover their liability to others for inadvertent mistakes agents might make, causing loss to clients. 221 Escheat: To transfer all of a decedent’s property to the state when there is no Will and no relatives exist. Estate Tax: See Federal Estate Tax. Estoppel: Refers to the principle that a party, who has waived a right, either expressly or by implication, cannot later request reinstatement of that right. Excess Interest Rate: In nontraditional life insurance policies, an unspecified rate of interest, established at the insurer's discretion and subject to change, over and above the guaranteed interest rate, usually related to a known financial index such as the yield on U.S. Treasury securities. Also see Current Interest Rate and Guaranteed Interest Rate. Excess interest: Whole Life Insurance. See Interest-Sensitive Whole Life Insurance. Exclusion Ratio: Under the rules for liquidating an annuity, refers to a method fo r determining what portion of each annuity payment represents return of premium, and is therefore untaxed, and what portion represents interest, and is subject to taxation. Executive bonus plan: An arrangement under which t he employer pays for individually issued life insurance for certain selected employees. Express Authority or Power: See Actual Authority or Power. Extended Term Insurance: A non-forfeiture option that maintains the policy's death benefit amount by using the cash value to pay for it as t erm insurance for whatever period the available cash will provide at the insured's attained age. Any outstanding policy loan is deducted from the death benefit amount and from the cash value before determining the length of the term. F Face Amount: The dollar amount shown on the front or face of a life insurance policy, indicating the death benefit-the amount that will be paid to beneficiaries if the insured person dies. The amount actually paid might be different if a policy loan is outstanding or if riders or other provisions increase or decrease the death benefit. Facultative reinsurance: Reinsurance basis under which each application is underwritten separately by the reinsurer. Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law designed to protect consumers by p roviding that they be notified if they are being investigated by an investigative agency and establishing certain procedures that allow consumers to challenge and correct errors in information kept on file about them. Family coverage: Usually refers to a combination of permanent and term insurance under which the family breadwinner is covered by cash value life insurance and other family members' lives are covered by term insurance. Family income coverage: A combination of permanent and term insurance providing that, when the insured dies, the cash value life insurance death benefit is paid in a lump sure followed by installment payments of the term insurance as income to the survivors. Under some policies, the installment income from the term insurance is p aid first and 222 when the income period expires, the lump sum benefit from the cash value life insurance is paid. Federal Estate Tax: A tax the federal government assesses at death on estates valued at more than $600,000. Life insurance proceeds can avoid federal estate taxation if the insured has no incidents of ownership and if the estate is not the beneficiary of the policy. Fiduciary: Refers either to people entrusted to handle matters involving others' financial affairs or to the actions of people so entrusted. Life insurance agents are considered to have fiduciary responsibilities in their relationships with clients. First to die insurance: Pays the face amount of the policy on the first death of one or two or more insureds covered by the policy – also known as joint life insurance. Fixed amount temporary annuity: An annuity liquidation method that guarantees income payments of a specified amount only until the annuity funds are depleted, rather than for the annuitant's lifetime Fixed-amount option: An annuity certain with the income amount fixed. Fixed Annuity: See Flexible Premium Deferred Annuity. Fixed period temporary annuity: An annuity liquidation method that guarantees to pay income for a specified period of time, with the amount of each income pa yment calculated to extend over that period, rather than for the annuitant's lifetime. Fixed-period option: An annuity certain with the time period fixed. Flexible-Premium Adjustable Life Insurance: See Universal Life Insurance. Flexible Premium Deferred Annuity (FPL): An annuity purchased by means of premiums that are flexible in both amount and frequency of payment and for which payout is deferred until some future date. Deferred also refers to deferral of interest taxation until payout. Also called fixed annuity Flexible-Premium Variable Life Insurance: See Variable Universal Life Insurance. Foreign insurer: From the perspective of a given state, an insurance company operating within that state, but organized under the laws of a different state. Compare to Alien Insurer and Domestic Insurer. Fraternal Insurance Company: A type of insurer organized on a nonprofit basis solely for the benefit of its members; may not issue stock; must have elected officials, a lodge system and ritualistic work. Also called fraternal benefit societies and fraternal orders Fraud: In regard to insurance, refers to any illegal act, including misrepresentation or concealment, designed to deceive the insurance company in order to gain a benefit. Free Look Provision: A life insurance policy provision required by most states, allowing the policyowner to inspect the policy for a specified period of time, often 10, 15, 20 or 30 clays, and returns the policy to the insurer, if desired, for a refund of the entire premium. Front-end loading: A method of charging sales and administrative expenses against a policy by deducting a certain percentage from each premium payment before the 223 payment is credited to the cash value account. Also see Back-End Loading, Loading and No-Load. G GAAP reserves: Life insurance reserves that are calculated using the insurer’s realistic expectations for morbidity, mortality, persistency, and investment return on a net -level premium basis. General Agent (GA): A person operating within a life insurance distribution system as an independent business person rather than an employee of an insurer, under a contractual agreement with one or more insurance companies to sell their products. General agents usually hire other agents and share in their commissions. General partnership: A partnership in which each partner is actively involved in the management of the firm and is fully liable for partnership obligations. Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (GST): Tax levied when a property interest is transferred to persons who are two or more generations younger than the transferor. Grace period: In a life insurance policy, refers to a stipulated period of time, usually 30 or 31 days, after the premium due date, during which the policyowner may pay the premium and keep the policy in force. Graded premium: A method of charging premiums for life insurance policies under which the amount of premium is relatively low at the beginning of the policy period and gradually rises over the years to a certain point, at which time the premiums reach a level that is maintained for the duration of the policy Gross estate: The value of all property or interests in property owned or controlled by the deceased person. Gross premium: The premium amount a policyowner actually pays based upon mortality rates, assumed interest on investments and operating expenses. Compare to Net Premium. Group Insurance: Various insurance plans made available to people who are members of a common group, such as employer-employee groups, multiple employer-employee groups, organized unions, associations and creditor- debtor groups. The employer or other entity is the master policyowner and administers the plan on behalf of the group members. Group permanent insurance: A group contract under which benefits, usually including a life insurance feature, are funded by a level-premium group annuity contract issued to the employer with certificates of coverage given to the employees. Guaranteed Insurability Rider: An attachment to a cash value life insurance policy that guarantees the insured may purchase additional amounts of insurance without proving insurability on specified option dates in the future, with the option ending when the insured reaches an age stipulated by the insurer, often age 40. Specifies minimum and maximum amounts that may be purchased. Rates are at the insured's attained age. Also called purchase option rider. 224 Guaranteed interest rate: In a cash value life insurance policy, a relatively low specified interest rate the insurer guarantees will be paid on the accumulating cash values. Also see Current Interest Rate and Excess Interest Rate. Guideline level premium: Part of income tax law under which a premium is computed using interest at the greater rate of 4% or the rate guaranteed in the contract. H Holding company: Financial corporations that own or control one or more subsidiary companies. Home Office: Refers to the primary location of an insurance company in the state where the insurer was organized and operates. HR-10 Plan: See Keogh Plan. Human life value: A measure of the actual future earnings or values of services of an individual, the capitalized value of an individual’s future net earnings after subtracting self-maintenance costs, such as food, clothing and shelter. I Immediate Annuity: An annuity purchased with a large single premium, permitting income payments to begin as soon as the annuitant desires; insurers often allow the annuitant to defer the first income payment for up to five years. Always a single premium annuity funded by one large lump sum deposit. Also called Single Premium Immediate Annuity. Impaired Risk: See Substandard Risk Implied authority or powers: With regard to authority extended to an agent acting on behalf of an insurer, authority that is implied, although not expressly granted, by the agent's contractual agreement with the principal. Incontestable clause: A life insurance policy provision specifying a certain period of time, usually one or two years from the policy's effective date, after which the insurer may no longer challenge or contest any statements or information from the applicant that Would allow the insurer to void the policy. Increasing Term Insurance: A type of term insurance, typically available only as a rider to a cash value life insurance policy, providing for an ever-increasing amount of insurance during the specified term. The increased death benefit resulting from increasing term may be paid to beneficiaries either as a refund of premiums paid for the term rider or as a return of the cash values, in addition to the face amount. Indemnity: A policy in which the insured suffering a loss covered under the policy, are entitled to recover an amount not greater than that which would be necessary to place the insured in the same pre-loss financial position. 225 Independent Agent: An individual who operates under an insurance distribution system as an independent, self-employed person, rather than as an employee of an insurance company, and who is appointed by and represents any number of insurance companies that pay commissions to the agent for sales of their products. This method of marketing insurance is also called the American Agency System. Indeterminate premium: A life insurance policy premium that fluctuates as the interest rate changes. Individual life insurance: Policy written on the life of a single person as differentiated from group insurance that is written on many lives. Compare to Group Insurance. Individual Retirement Account/Annuity: A tax-favored retirement plan available only to individuals and their spouses who meet certain legal requirements for establishing such plans. Maximum deductible amounts are specified according to income, phasing out entirely at specified income levels. Also see Spousal IRA. Industrial insurance: Life and health insurance policies issued to individuals in small amounts, usually less than $2,000, with premiums collected on a weekly or monthly basis at the home of the policyowner. Inflation protection: Ensures that the benefit amount increases with the cost of living. Initial reserve: The reserve at the beginning of the policy year, which equals the terminal reserve for the preceding year, increased by the net -level annual premium for the current year. Inspection Company: See Consumer reporting agency. Insurability: Refers primarily to medical and health factors, but also to a variety of other characteristics examined by an insurance company to determine whether a particular individual is one whose life the insurance company is willing to insure. Insurable interest: When an individual can reasonably expect to receive pecuniary gain from that person’s continued life, or conversely, if he or she would suffer financial loss on the person’s death. Expectation of monetary loss that can be covered by insurance Insurance: A device to spread the cost of financial loss among many people by transferring the cost through an insurance company so the financial loss to anyone individual is small. Insurance adviser: One who provides advice about selecting appropriate insurance products to members of the public in exchange for a fee. Not employed by or having an agency contract with an insurance company. Insuring clause: In a life insurance policy, a provision stating the general promises of the insurer to pay the death benefit when the insured dies Inter vivos: A trust that is created during life, also known as a living trust. Interest option: A settlement option in which the proceeds remain with the insurer and a guaranteed amount or interest earned on those proceeds are paid to the beneficiary. 226 Interest-out-first Rule: An Internal Revenue Service rule that applies to premature withdrawals from annuities, requiring that if the cash value of the annuity is greater than the premiums paid at the time of withdrawal, the withdrawal will b e taxed entirely as interest to the extent that the cash value exceeds the premiums paid. Interest-Sensitive Whole Life Insurance: A nontraditional type of life insurance designed to reflect interest rates in the marketplace. Specific features vary among insurers, but many include a minimum guaranteed interest rate as well as a fluctuating current interest rate. Some policies have indeterminate premiums, while others are fixed. Some may allow reduction of the death benefit in lieu of premium increases, also called excess interest whole life and current assumption whole life. Intestate: A person who dies without a valid Will or without having made a complete disposition of his or her property. Irrevocable beneficiary: See Beneficiary, Irrevocable Irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT): An insurance policy on the grantor’s life owned by an irrevocable inter vivos trust with the policy proceeds payable to the trust who is the beneficiary. Irrevocable trust: A living trust in which the grantor permanently relinquishes ownership and control of the trust property. J Joint and Last Survivor Annuity: An annuity liquidation method that pays an income to two annuitants while both are living then continues payments of the same amount to the survivor after one annuitant dies. Also called joint and survivorship annuity Joint and One-Half Survivor Annuity: An annuity liquidation method similar to the joint and last survivor annuity except when one annuitant dies, the survivor's income payment is reduced to half the amount that was paid when both were living. Similar annuities may be written for different proportions, such as two -thirds or three-fourths. Joint and Survivorship Annuity: See Joint and Last Survivor Annuity. Joint Annuity: Any of several types of annuity liquidation methods that provide joint payments to two annuitants. Joint Life Annuity: A type of joint annuity liquidation method under which income payments are made as long as both annuitants are alive, but cease when either one dies, with no survivorship or death benefits paid. (Rarely written) Joint tenancy with right of survivorship: Property owned by two or more persons and, on the death of any owner, his or her ownership interest passes automatically to the survivors. Jumping Juvenile Policy: A life insurance policy written on the life of a juvenile, usually a child underage 15, with a small death benefit that rises abruptly at a specified age, usually 21, to a much larger amount, often five times as much as the original amount. The insured need not prove insurability when the neither benefit increases, nor does the premium changes. Also called junior estate builder 227 Junior Estate Builder: See Jumping Juvenile Policy. Juvenile Insurance: A life insurance policy written on the life of a juvenile as defined by the insurer, usually a child under age 15. K Keogh Plan: A qualified retirement plan available to self-employed people and their employees and often funded with life insurance or annuities. Participants must adhere to specified maximum contributions. May be either a defined benefit or a defined contribution plan. Also called HR-10 Plan Key Employee Insurance: An insurance policy purchased by a business to cover the life of an employee who is considered vital to the financial success of the business and who may or may not be an owner or officer. If the employee dies, the death benefit is paid to the business. Also called key person insurance L Lapse rates: A measure of the proportion of policyowners who voluntarily terminate their insurance during a year. Lapsed policy: A life insurance policy that has terminated because of failure to pay the premium. Law of large numbers: A principle that states when statistics are derived from a large population, the more reliable the assumed statistical probabilities will be; the basis of life insurance in terms of insuring a large enough pool of people to be able to predict the probability of deaths occurring. Legal reserve: Insurance company funds held separately or kept in reserve in order to pay obligations the insurer has assumed; exact amounts required are determined by law. Legal Reserve Stock Company: See Stock Insurance Company. Level premium: A premium amount that remains the same throughout the life of an insurance policy. Level Term Insurance: A type of term insurance under which the amount of insurance available is the same or level throughout the policy period. License: State-issued document certifying that an individual is permitted to solicit and sell insurance in a particular state. Life expectancy: Based upon mortality tables, the average estimated length of life remaining for a person at any given age. Life income option with period certain: The most popular life income option – the installments are payable for as long as the primary beneficiary lives, but should this beneficiary die before a predetermined number of years, installments continue to a second beneficiary until the end of the designated period. 228 Life Insurance: Life insurance is a device to spread the cost of financial loss resulting from death from an individual to a group through an insurance company by transferring the cost so the financial loss to any one individual is small. Limited partners: Partnership having at least one general partner and one or more limited partners who are not actively engaged in partnership management and who are liable for partnership obligations only to the extent of their investment in the partnership. Limited Payment Life Insurance: A type of cash value life insurance policy that requires payment of premiums only for a limited number of years as stipulated in the policy. At the end of the limited payment period, the policy remains in force for the insured's lifetime with no further premium payments required. Liquidation phase: For an annuity, the period during which the annuitant receives periodic income payments that systematically depletes the funds in the annuity. Compare to Accumulation Phase Living Will: A legal instrument which sets forth the wishes of the individual as to the use of life-sustaining measures in cases of terminal illness, prolonged coma, or serious incapacitation. Loading: Charging sales and administrative expenses to purchasers of financial products, including life insurance policies and annuities. Long-term care insurance: Insurance that covers physical or mental incapacity that prohibits the insured from partaking of activities of daily living. M Marital deduction: Deduction of the value of property left to a surviving spouse. Marketing: Providing of products well suits to consumer’s needs through effective and appropriate distribution channels. Mass marketing: (Also called Mass Merchandising) Coverage for a group of individuals under one policy, usually all members belongs to a particular company, union or trade association. Master contract: Under a group insurance plan, a policy issued to the one charged with administering the plan, such as an employer. Also called master policy Material misrepresentation: See Misrepresentation, Material. McCarran-Ferguson Act: Federal law exempting insurance from federal anti-trust laws and reinforcing state rights to regulate the insurance busi ness. Also called Public Law 15 Medical Information Bureau (MIB): A medical information clearinghouse created and supported by member insurance companies. Receives and retains files of consumer medical information provided by member companies and discloses that information only to members. Consumers have the right to request disclosure of information in their 229 MIB files, with medical information disclosed only to a physician to explain to the consumer. Misrepresentation: Providing inaccurate or misleading information. For life insurance purposes, refers specifically to information provided by the applicant when attempting to secure insurance coverage or by an agent in any situation. Misstatement of age: A policy provision stating that if the insured’s age is found to have been incorrectly stated, the amount of insurance will be adjusted to be that which would have been purchased by the premium, had the correct age been known. Material: For insurance purposes, a misrepresentation that affects or would have affected the insurer's decision to issue the policy. Managing General Agent (MGA): An independent insurance wholesaler who contracts insurance agents with insurers the MCA represents, for the purpose of selling the insurers' products to consumers. Also called marketing general agent Mass Merchandising: As a life insurance distribution system, the practice of dealing directly with clients for the marketing of group insurance products as opposed to individual insurance products. Modified coinsurance plan: A reinsurance coinsurance treaty with a provision that requires the reinsurer to pay the ceding company a reserve adjustment, with the net effect of making the arrangement a yearly renewable term reinsurance agreement. Modified endowment contract (MEC): A life insurance policy which was entered into after June 20, 1988, that meets the IRC Section 7702 definition of life insurance, but fails the seven-pay test. Modified premium: A life insurance policy premium that is set at a very low fixed amount for three or four years, after which the amount is raised to a much higher level and remains at that level for the duration of the policy. Monthly debit ordinary: Ordinary life insurance policies which are typically written in the $5,000 to $25,000 range, with premiums collected monthly at the policy owner’s home. Mortality rate: Refers to the average number of people of a given age who are expected to die each year. Mortality table: A life insurance table that shows mortality rates-the average number of every 1,000 living people of a given age from zero to age 100, who are expected to die each year. One such table, used to compute legal reserves, is the Commissioners' Standard Ordinary Table or CSO, which is updated periodically and bears the issue year of the latest update. Mortgage insurance: A life insurance policy purchased for the purpose of paying off a home mortgage if the insured dies. Decreasing term insurance is often used for this purpose, but any type of life insurance policy may be used. Multiple Employer Trust (MET): A group of small employers who have grouped together in order to obtain group insurance benefits typically available only to larger groups. 230 Mutual life insurance company: A form of insurance company organization under which the policyowners also technically own the company. May issue participating policies that allow policyowners to share in dividends, when declared. May not issue stock. Compare to Stock Insurance Company. N National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC ): An organization of insurance commissioners and superintendents that promotes communication about insurance regulation and practices and recommends model laws related to i nsurance in all states for the purpose of helping standardize laws and practices. National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD): National organization of companies that sell securities, including insurance companies that sell variable products, with whom insurance agents must be registered as representatives in order to sell products that are considered securities. Net amount at risk: The actual amount of pure life insurance protection, which is calculated as the difference between the policy reserve (at that point) and the face amount. Net premium: The premium determined by calculating; a mortality rate and assumed interest in overall insurance company investments; not the premium paid by the policyowner, which also considers the insurers operating exp enses. Also see Gross Premium. No-Load: Refers to an arrangement whereby sales and administrative fees are not directly deducted from premiums; instead, the insurer recoups expenses by taking a percentage of current earnings. Non-Admitted Insurer: From the perspective of a particular state, an insurance company that has not been authorized to do business in that slate. Also called an unauthorized insurer Noncontributory plan: A group insurance plan under which participants in the plan are not required to pay any portion of the premiums. The plan must cover 100% of eligible employees. Non-forfeiture Options: Options available for receiving the cash value of a life insurance policy the owner is no longer going to keep in force. They include: receiving cash, using the cash value for a paid-up policy of a lesser amount or purchasing extended term insurance. Non-forfeiture provision: A provision in an insurance policy which stipulates the options available under a cash-value policy if the policyowner elects to terminate the policy and explains the basis or method used to determine these optional values. Non-participating policy: A type of policy that does not share in any dividends that maybe paid by the insurance company providing the policy. Compare to Participating Policy. 231 Non-proportional reinsurance: A reinsurance agreement wherein the reinsurer pays a claim only when the amount of the loss exceeds a specified limit. (Also known as excess-of-loss coverage) Non-resident agent: An agent doing business in a state other than the state where the agent is licensed and resides. O Ordinary Life Insurance: See Whole Life Insurance. Original age: For insurance policies, the age of the insured when a policy was originally issued on the insurers life. Compare to Attained Age. Outsourcing: Hiring an independent “outside” company to perform specific tasks. Own occupation: A clause that determines that an insured is totally disabled when they cannot perform the major duties of their regular occupations P Paid-up policy: A life insurance policy for which no further premium payments are due contractually but the policy remains in effect. Partial Assignment: See Assignment, Partial. Participating policy: A type of policy that shares in any dividends that may be paid by the insurance company providing the policy. Compare to Non-Participating Policy. Partnership: A voluntary association of two or more individuals for the purpose of conducting a business for profit as co-owners. Payment mode: The frequency with which insurance premiums are paid, such as monthly, quarterly, semiannually and annually. Payor Rider: A rider attached to a life insurance policy, usually on the life of a juvenile, providing that premium payments will be waived if the person responsible for paying premiums dies or becomes disabled, or in some cases, only if the person dies. Pension plan: A plan established by an employer specifically to provide retirement benefits for employees. May be a qualified plan by meeting IRS requirements to receive certain tax advantages. May be either a defined benefit or a defined contribution plan, and must conform to a formula to determine either the amount of benefits or the amount of contributions Peril: A cause of a disability or death of a person(s). Permanent Life Insurance: Life insurance intended to remain in force for the entire life of the insured and build cash values that are available to the policyowner for policy loans or if the policy is terminated. 232 Per Capita beneficiary designation: An arrangement to handle situations where there is more than one primary beneficiary. If one of the primary beneficiaries dies before the insured dies, it provides that any primary beneficiary’s still living divide the entire policy proceeds equally. Persistency rate: The ratio of the number of a group of policies that continue coverage on a premium-due date to the number of policies that was in force as of the preceding date. Personal-Producing General Agent (PPGA): A self-employed insurance agent who operates similar to a general agent, but does not usually hire other agents. Compare to General Agent. Per Stirpes beneficiary designation: An arrangement to handle situations where there is more than one primary beneficiary and if one of the primary beneficiaries dies before the insured dies, it provides that any primary beneficiaries still living receive their original shares and the share of the deceased primary beneficiary passes on to that deceased beneficiary's survivors. Planned premium: The rate at which insurance companies bill, according to the request of the policyowner, in order to overcome the concern that policyowners may inadvertently allow their policies to lapse. (Also known as target premium) Policy form number: Legal designation used by an insurance company when filing a specific policy with the state insurance department. Policy loan provision: A provision in a life insurance policy under which insurers must make requested loans to policyholders according to specified limitations. Policy reserves: The amounts necessary for the fulfillment of contract obligations as to future claims. The present value of future claims. Policyholder (Policyowner): The person or entity who pays a premium to an insurer in exchange for an insurance policy. In this text, polic yholder and policyowner are the same. Policy Summary: A summation of selected features of a life insurance policy prepared and attached to the policy by the insurer for delivery to the policyowner/insured. Portfolio reinsurance: Reinsurance of specific blocks of insurance policies. Powers of Agency: See Agency Authority. Preferred risk: For life insurance underwriting purposes, one who qualifies for the best life insurance rate a particular insurer offers. For some insurers, refers to the nonsmoker category. Not all insurers have a preferred risk class. Compare to Standard Risk and Substandard Risk. Premium: For an insurance policy, the amount an insured pays in order to acquire and keep the insurance in force. Premium deposit rider: An additional policy feature that allows the policyowner to deposit amounts to pay future premiums. Premium Tax: See State Premium Tax. 233 Primary Beneficiary: See Beneficiary Primary. Pre-need funeral insurance: Life insurance policies that are designed &/or sold to fund a pre-arranged funeral. Present value: The principal amount that must be invested at the present time in order to accomplish some objective in the future. Principal Sum: In the accidental death and dismemberment rider, refers to the face amount of the life insurance policy to which it is attached, when specifying the portion of that amount that will be paid for various types of dismemberment losses. Probate: The (judicial) process by which a Will of a deceased person is authenticated to a court. Proceeds: The death benefit of a life insurance policy. Producer: A term used to refer collectively to people involved in selling or soliciting life insurance, including agents, brokers and solicitors. Some states issue a producer's license rather than having different licenses for different types of personnel. Professional reinsurer: An insurer whose exclusive business is reinsurance. Profit-sharing plan: A corporate plan designed to share company profits with employees in the form of a retirement plan. May be a qualified plan by meeting IRS requirement s to receive certain tax advantages Proportional reinsurance: Reinsurance agreements in which the reinsurer and the ceding company share premiums and claims on a risk in a specified proportion. Purchase Option Rider: See Guaranteed Insurability Rider. Q Qualified plan: Any retirement plan that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code to be eligible for special tax treatment. Qualified terminable interest property: Property passing from the decedent in which the surviving spouse is entitled to a lifetime income payable at least annually, from the property. R Rebating: A regulated practice forbidden by most states, involves offering a potential insurance buyer something of value other than the policy to induce the buyer to purchase the policy. Includes splitting commissions with the buyer, refunding part of the premium, giving valuable gifts or any other valuable inducement Reciprocal agreement: An agreement between two state insurance departments whereby each state's licensed resident agents are permitted to sell insurance in the other state without qualifying for an additional license, instead operating as a non -resident agent in that state. Also see Non-Resident Agent and Resident Agent. 234 Reduced paid-up insurance: An option on a life insurance policy that permits the policyholder to use the cash surrender value as a net single premium, to purchase a reduced amount of paid-up insurance of the same type as the original policy, exclusive of any term or other riders. Re-entry feature: A feature of some automatically renewable term policies permitting a lower renewal rate if the insured elects to have a medical examination and proves continuing good health. Refund Annuity: An annuity liquidation method that provides a lifetime income for the annuitant and also guarantees the return of an amount equal to premiums paid, either to the annuitant or to survivors if the annuitant dies before receiving income equal to premiums. Beneficiaries can receive a lump sum cash refund of unreturned premiums or installments of the same amount the annuitant was receiving. Reinstatement provision: A provision in a life insurance policy that gives the policyowner the right to reinstate a previously lapsed policy under certain condition s. Reinsurance: The purchase of insurance by an insurance company. Reinsurer: An insurance company that assumes the risk of another insurance company. Renewable Term Insurance: A type of term insurance that permits the insured to renew the policy without proving insurability when the stipulated term expires. Most insurers renew for a like term automatically unless the insured specifically refuses renewal, with premium determined at the insured's attained age. Option to renew expires at an age specified by the insurer, typically 60, 65 or 70. Also see Re-entry Feature. Replacement, Policy: Refers to replacing an existing life insurance policy with another policy. While not necessarily illegal, a replacement made without providing the policyowner with a complete and accurate comparison of the two policies and the advantages and disadvantages of replacement is called twisting, which is illegal. Representation: In an insurance application, statements made by the applicant which are believed, but not guaranteed, to be true. Reserve: An amount determined conservatively to be sufficient to meet future losses and contingencies and any incurred but not paid obligations. A reserve is a liability for the insurance company. Resident Agent: An agent licensed in and doing business in the state of residence. Compare to Non-Resident Agent Also see Reciprocal Agreement. Retired lives reserve (RLR): In group insurance, a reserve that is accumulated by an employer prior to retirement of an employee that will be used to pay premiums on term insurance after the employee retires. Reverse split dollar plan: An insurance policy with the pure death protection payable to the corporation and death proceeds equal to the cash value, payable to the employee’s beneficiary. Revocable Beneficiary: See Beneficiary, Revocable. 235 Revocable trust: A living trust that the grantor of the trust can change or terminate as they wish, and can regain ownership of the property. Rider: An attachment to an insurance policy that changes or adds provisions not included in the original policy. There is an additional charge for riders added at the insured's option to provide additional benefits for the insured. Also called an endorsement Risk: Uncertainty of financial loss; term used to designate an insured or a peril insured against. Risk corridor: In a life insurance policy, refers to the minimum amount at risk that must be maintained over and above the policy's cash value in order for the policy to continue to be treated as life insurance for tax purposes. Also called tax corridor Roth IRA: An individual retirement account (IRA) in which withdrawals after age 59½ are completely free of income tax provided the account has existed for at least five years. S Salary Reduction Plan: See Cash or Deferred Arrangement and 401 (k) Plan. Savings Bank Life Insurance: A type of life insurance provider operating only in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York and offering relatively limited amounts of life insurance. Second to die insurance: Life insurance policy that insures the lives of two or more persons, and that pays the death proceeds only on the second or last to die. Section 303 Stock Redemption: A partial redemption of corporate stock, permitted by Section 303 of the Internal Revenue Code, which can be used as the basis for a buy/sell agreement funded by life insurance. Also see Buy/Seri Agreement. Securities: Financial instruments that are evidence of debt, such as stocks and bonds, which pose a risk of loss to the buyer. Includes certain life i nsurance products, such as variable life insurance and variable annuities, whose financial performance depends upon the performance of securities investments Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Federal body having regulatory authority over the sale of securities and securities-based products, including variable insurance products. Separate account: The cash value account for variable life insurance or variable annuities, comprised of the portion of premiums invested in securities, but required to be kept separate from the insurance company's general investment account. Settlement Options: The several options available to life insurance policy beneficiaries for receiving the death benefit. If the death benefit is not paid in a lump sum, beneficiaries may receive: only the interest by leaving the principal with the insurer; regular income payments of a fixed amount; income for a fixed period of time; a lifetime income. 236 Seven-pay test: A method that determines if a life insurance policy qualifies for th e tax treatment of a life insurance policy, which it would if the cumulative amount paid under the life insurance policy at any time, exceeds the cumulative amount that would have been paid had the policy’s annual premium equaled the net -level premium for a seven-pay life policy. Single Premium Deferred Annuity (SPDA): An annuity purchased with a large onetime lump sum premium rather than by flexible premium payments and for which liquidation is deferred until sometime in the future. Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA): See Immediate Annuity. Single Premium Variable Life Insurance: A variable life insurance policy purchased with a large one-time lump sum premium rather than by periodic premium payments. Single Premium Whole Life (SPWL) insurance: The life insurance policy is paid-up from inception with a single payment, and the policy has immediate and substantial cash values. Sole proprietorship: A business, unincorporated, owned by one person who usually also manages the business. Solicitor: In the life insurance business, one who acts on behalf of an agent or broker to locate potential insurance buyers, but who does not actually sell insurance. Spendthrift Clause and Spendthrift Trust: A clause included in some life insurance policies and a corresponding trust established to receive the death benefit of a life insurance policy in order to protect the proceeds from creditors. Periodic income payments are made from the trust to the beneficiary. Laws differ among the state concerning the extent of protection such trusts actually provide. Spousal IRA: An Individual Retirement Account/Annuity established to receive contributions for both a wage earner and spouse, and thus eligible for a slightly larger annual contribution. Standard non-forfeiture laws: Laws that requires cash value life insurance policies to state the mortality table and rate of interest used in calculating life insurance nonforfeiture values to be provided by the policy, as well as a description of the method used in calculating the values. Standard risk: For life insurance underwriting purposes, one who poses an average risk of dying at certain points in the future and forms the basis upon which basic life insurance premiums are determined. This represents most insureds. Many insurers have different standard risk rates for smokers and nonsmokers. State premium tax: A tax assessed by some states against each insurance premium; where applicable, included in the insured's premium payment and sent to taxing authorities by the insurer. Step-rate Premium: A premium that increases to reflect the insured's attained age at designated tunes rather than remaining level; may refer to a renewable term premium. 237 Stock insurance company: A form of insurance company organization under which stockholders, not policyowners, own the company and share in profits. Stocks and/or bonds may be offered to the public for purchase and new issues may be offered to raise capital. Also called legal reserve stock company. Compare to Mutual Insurance Company. Stock Redemption Plan: See Section 303 Stock Redemption. Straight Life Annuity: An annuity liquidation method providing lifetime income payments to the annuitant. When the annuitant dies, all payments stop regardless of how much of the annuity accumulation has been liquidated. There are no survivor benefits. Straight Life Insurance: See Whole Life Insurance. Substandard Risk: For life insurance underwriting purposes, one who poses a greater than average risk of loss to the insurance company and thus pays the highes t rates. Also called impaired risk and special class risk Suicide Clause: A standard provision in life insurance policies stipulating a period of time, usually one or two years, after the policy effective date during which, if the insured commits suicide, the death benefit will not be paid, but premiums will be returned to the survivors. Superintendent of Insurance: See Commissioner of Insurance. Surrender Charge: In an annuity, a gradually-decreasing percentage of the annuity value charged against the annuity if the buyer surrenders the policy any time during a specified number of years immediately following the annuity purchase. Disappears after from five to 20 years, depending upon the insurer. Specific percentages differ by insurer. Surrender value: See Cash Surrender Value. Survivorship life insurance: A life insurance plan wherein two or more lives are insured and death proceeds are paid only on the death of the second or last to die (also known as second-to-die insurance) T Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA) : A special type of annuity, available only to tax -exempt organizations specified in the Internal Revenue Code as 403(b) and 501(c)(3) organizations, through which an employer uses a portion of what would otherwise be the pay of the employee, to purchase the annuity. Term Insurance: A life insurance policy with no cash values that is written for a specified period of time, after which the policy expires without paying a death benefit if the insured is still living. Terminal reserve: The reserve at the end of any given year. Terminally ill: When an individual has been certified by as physician as having a medical condition that can reasonably be expected to result in death within 24 months or less. 238 Testator: A person who makes a Will. Transparency: Used in interest-sensitive products which assures that accurate information needed by customers, intermediaries, rating agencies and government agencies will be readily available. Trust: A legal agreement wherein one party transfers property to another party, and the second party (trustee) holds the legal title and manages the property for the benefit of others. Twisting: In life insurance marketing, the illegal act of inducing an insured to replace an existing life insurance policy with a policy the agent is selling, without providing the insured with an accurate and complete comparison of the two policies and an explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of replacement. U Unauthorized insurer: From the perspective of a particular state, an insurance company that has not been authorized to do business in that state. Also called a nonadmitted insurer Underwriting: The process of selection and classifying a potential insured, by examining and investigating an insured to determine whether or not the insura nce company is willing to provide the insurance requested and on what basis. Unfair Claim Practices: A group of provisions related to insurance claims and representing one of the unfair trade practices prohibited by law; may differ from state to state, but usually based upon a model law recommended by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Unfair Trade Practices: A group of provisions specifying certain actions prohibited by state law in insurance transactions and usually based upon a model la w recommended by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Uniform Simultaneous Death Act: A law adopted by most states providing that, if the insured and the primary beneficiary appear to have died simultaneously and there is no evidence that the primary beneficiary outlived the insured, it will be assumed that the insured died last, making the life insurance policy's proceeds payable to the contingent beneficiary. Unilateral contract: Refers to a characteristic of a life insurance policy whereb y only one party to the agreement must fulfill the contract; in this case, the insurer is required to pay the death benefit as long as premiums are paid, whereas the policyowner has the option to stop paying premiums and give up the insurance. Universal Life Insurance: A life insurance policy characterized by flexible premium payment and an adjustable death benefit, as well as payment of a higher interest rate on cash values than traditional life insurance policies. A low rate is guaranteed and there is potential for a higher rate. Also called adjustable premium whole life and flexiblepremium whole life Universal Variable Life Insurance: See Variable Universal Life Insurance. 239 Upstream holding company: A holding company formed by one or more stock companies. Utmost Good Faith, Contract of. Refers to the characteristic of a life insurance policy that causes each party to rely upon the good faith of the other party in being truthful and keeping the promises made as part of the contract. V Vanishing Premium: A premium-payment arrangement whereby after the policy has been in force for a certain period of time, dividends and/or interest earned on cash values are used to pay premiums to keep the policy in force and no additional premium payments are required from the policyowner. Variable Annuity: An annuity characterized by no guaranteed amount of return during the accumulation or liquidation phases since the amount of annuity funds available depends upon the performance of investments in the separate account; s ubject to securities regulation. Variable Life Insurance: A life insurance policy that has a minimum guaranteed death benefit that may be greater as the result of fluctuations in the separate investment account; cash surrender values may fluctuate, no inte rest rate is guaranteed; subject to securities regulation. Variable Universal Life Insurance: A life insurance policy characterized by combining features of both variable and universal life policies. Provides a variable and adjustable death benefit, a minimum guaranteed death benefit, flexible premium payments; subject to securities regulation. Also called flexible-premium variable life, Universal Life II, and Universal Variable Life Viatical Settlement: An arrangement whereby a policyowners sells a life insurance policy to a viatical settlement firm. Viatical Settlement firm: A specialized company, or a group of investors, that purchases life insurance policies, usually from terminally ill individuals. Viator: A person who sells their life insurance policy to a Viatical Settlement firm. W Waiver: Voluntary relinquishment of a privilege or right. Express: A waiver that is knowingly and intentionally given. Implied: A waiver given by implication rather than knowingly or intentionally given War exclusion: A provision in a life insurance policy that excludes coverage if the insured’s death occurs under certain military conditions. Waiver of Premium rider: An attachment to a life insurance policy that allows the policy to continue in force without further premium payment if the insured becomes disabled and unable to work; disability is defined in the rider. 240 Warranty: A statement that is guaranteed to be absolutely and literally true; important in insurance as contrasted with representations on an application s ince information on the application is considered to be a representation rather than a warranty. Whole life insurance: Traditional type of permanent cash value life insurance under which premiums are paid and the policy exists for the entire life of the in sured (usually age 95, 98 or 100, but insurers may use other ages). Also called straight life and ordinary life Will: A legal declaration of an individual’s wishes as to the disposition to make of his/her property on death. Y Yearly renewable term: Term policies with level death benefits and increasing premiums. 241 LIFE INSURANCE BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS, REFERENCE & TEXT The Handbook of Estate Planning Robert Esperti & Renno Peterson McGraw Hill Book Co., NY Principles of Insurance Production Peter Kasicky, et al Insurance Insitute of America, 1986 Life and Health Insurance, Thirteenth Edition Kenneth Black, Jr., & Harold D. Skipper, Jr. Prentice Hall, 2000 Black’s Law Dictionary Seventh Edition West Publishing Co., 1999 The New Life Insurance Investment Advisor Ben G. Baldwin McGraw Hill, 1994 Variable Universal Life Dearborn Financial Publishing, 1999 Financial Planning Process, 7 th Edition Pictorial Publications, 1997 Life, Health and Contracts Noble Continuing Education Private printing, 1996 Dictionary of Insurance Terms, Third edition Harvey W. Rubin, Ph.D., CLU, CPCU Barron’s Educational Series, 1995 Financial Planning with Life Insurance Products James C. Munch, Jr. Little Brown & Co. 1990 242 Legal Aspects of Life Insurance Edward Graves & Dan McGill American College, 1997 Ernst & Young’s Personal Financial Planning Guide Robert Garner, et al John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999 Law and the Life Insurance Contract Life Office Management Association McGraw Hill 1986 Business Insurance Carolyn Mitchell Dearborn Pub. May 2001 Principles of Insurance: Life, Health and Annuities, 2d Edition Harriet Jones & Dani Long Life Office Management Association, 1999 PERIODICALS Life Insurance Selling Oct., Nov. 1998, January through October 1999, Jan., Feb. 2000, and January through September 2001. National Underwriter Various articles, 1999, 2000, 2001 INTERNET ARTICLES 401 (k) – Single Premium Life Insurance http://wwww-e.analytics.com/fp17.htm Variable & Fixed Annuities http://www.e-analytics.com/fp30.htm Keogh Plans http://www.e-analytics.com/fp33.htm Tax Treatment of Variable Annuities http://www.variableannuityonline.com/free/vatal.cfm Estate Planning, MFS Fund Distributors. mfs.com 8/14/99 243 Changes in Federal Gift & Estate Tax. wmop@mindspring.com Several excellent articles from Recer Estate Services. Recer.com Roth IRA. rothirainc.com How the Stock market Affect Annuities insure.com/life/annuity/stock market.html Variable Life variableannuityonline.com/vlife/vlwhat.cfm Financial Planning – GE Center for Financial Learning financiallearning,com/financial_life_events/building_basics.html Insure.com’s Retirement Roundtable insure.com/life/roundtable99/index.html Equity-indexed Annuities, The best thing since sliced bread? insure.com/life/annuity/eiamain.html How Much Money Will You Need When You Retire e-analytics.com Roth Conversion IRA Retirement Plan roth-ira-conversion.com/ 401(k) and 403(b) Retirement Plans financialplan.about.com/finance/financialplan/msub401k.htm Publications, government and private, 2001 Tax Act: http://www.house.gov/rules/1836cr.pdf. http://www.cigna.com/professional/pdf/CPA_0601.pdf http://www.ebia.com.weekly/articles/401k010531TaxAct.html 244